My Best Friend's Wedding

Hello my beautiful family! I hope your week has been as wonderful as mine. I don't think I'll be able to explain how wonderful these past few days have been so hopefully the pictures will help to explain a little...

This week I experienced some of the best moments of my mission. My heart has literally been filled to the brim. While here in Bragado I have come to know some of my best friends, Cecilia, David and their four year old daughter Jazmin. This week I was able to watch them get married, baptized and then confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

This is a wedding in Argentina.

Awwww...Aren't they adorable?!

Throwing rice!

With their Hermanas!

They were so completely prepared last week but we warned them that Satan would be working really hard on them this week. And of course, he did, however, with the help of lots of prayers, good friends and members, they each were able to overcome the doubts and fears that Satan put into their hearts.

They were bursting with joy the day of their wedding and it just continued to grow over the weekend. The wedding in and of itself really isn't that exciting. We all just squish into a tiny room, watch them sign some papers etc. Afterward, however, everyone went to the church for a little lunch. Romina and her mom were wonderful and decorated the whole chapel so it looked beautiful. They also brought food which was great and Cecilia's family brought a ton of tartas (cake, pie things with fruit). It turned out really well. We sang Families Can Be Together Forever which is like their family theme song and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The church decorated for the reception.

Helping Jaz cut the cake.

The whole feeding each other cake thing isn't really
a tradition in Argentina, but when I suggested it,
David knew exactly what to do. LOL

On Saturday as we walked up to the church, David and Cecilia were just getting out of a Remis (David went all out this weekend and paid for taxis, a suit coat and took Cecilia and Jaz out to dinner on Friday). They helped us set up and got changed and all ready. The service went beautifully. We watched from beside the font to give Cecilia the towel as she walked out and it was so wonderful to see her giant smile. She was so incredibly happy. David also had a smile from ear to ear as he came out of the water.

The baptism shot. :)

After the baptism.

I think this one is my favorite!

After the baptism Cecilia bore her testimony and shared how they had been going through a really hard time and were ready to separate but that when we came we brought peace and joy to their home. I of course started to tear up and then had to sing right after. We sang Te Hallare Mi Querido Amigo, the song of the mission, which I will sing for you when I get home. But basically it was made for them. It was wonderful!

After church on Sunday David had an interview with President Alldredge and so we waited outside and talked with Cecilia. She shared with us how she has already seen such a difference in David. After their baptism all he could talk about was the plan of salvation and their goal to be sealed in the temple in a year. He walked out of the interview excited to receive the priesthood (a miracle in and of itself) as well as get some family names ready for the temple.

The change I have seen in them over the past few months has been so beautiful. I have really come to understand how much love the Savior has for each one of us. I really feel as though I have found some truly wonderful friends and I am so excited to continue watching their life progress.

After church on Sunday we were waiting to talk to
President and Hermana Alldredge sat down and
sang hymns with Emma and Jazmin.
It was soooo cute!!

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a forever family with you! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Millet

Please Cry for Me Argentina

Family!!!!

How are you all! Were you DYING last night?! Because I was. I can't believe we lost. It was pretty much the worst three hours of my life sitting in my pench listening to screaming and not knowing ANYTHING! Luckily Hermana Islas is a saint and sent me text updates every few minutes. We did, however, get to watch the game on Wednesday. The most exciting Wednesday night of my life! It was an awesome game and I got to watch it with my favorite people.

Vamos Argentina!

Watching the game... Personalities of the members:  Veronica Islas
watching while crocheting, Cecilia interested but normal,
David "Don't you dare talk to me.  I'm busy praying."

Anyway, enough about soccer...

This week we got to have our first interviews with President and a meeting with him and all of Chivilcoy. My interview was super great and way over the five minute time limit haha. He basically told me I'll be going to the city (NOOOOOOOO!!!!) but I'm going to accept God's will and work as hard as I can in the short time I have left here in Bragado.

The Robertsons.  This was our first meeting with them last
 week with the leadership council.  All the hermanas gave
 Hermana Robertson a braclet and all the Elders gave President a tie.
   They are super cute.  You would LOVE them.

Chivilcoy Sur! (Chivilcoy South)

Flashback!  Our MTC group in Chivilcoy.

I am really excited about the progress we have made this week here in our area. Last week, although we had 'fechas' I couldn't see any of them progressing to baptism. This week we have found some wonderful people and are beginning to see them progress.

One of the greatest miracles we saw began with a less active family, Familia Arias. They are from Cordova and have six children (3 boys and 3 girls). The father has been a member for a long time but his wife and children were baptized about five years ago and just moved to Bragado in October. They have been inactive due to a really horrible situation in Cordova in which the members weren't very Christlike and their 10 year old daughter has not been baptized. I had heard about this family from Hermana Morales but we could never talk to them all. The first time Hermana Peterson and I went we didn't know their story and unfortunately, the father ended up getting offended. However, I went back this week with Hermana Adams in divisions and we saw miracles.

We entered the house and neither of the parents were home, but their aunt, Jimena was there with her 4 year old son. We began teaching her and all of the kids the restoration and it was wonderful. Ten year old Estefania was so excited to participate and be baptized and Jimena was a literal miracle. She understood the restoration perfectly and accepted a baptismal invitation without hesitating.

We were able to return and teach both families later in the week and for the first time I was able to really talk to Hermana Arias. She shared their whole story and really opened up to us. I know it will take more than a few weeks to help this sweet family come back to church but I have high hopes for them. Jimena is juntado but is also willing to get married so she can become a forever family. I can't wait to see the progress that will come with these families in the next months! I know the Lord is preparing them.

Hermana Adams made breakfast for me.  Can you tell
what it says?  H. M. I (heart) U! (Hermana Millet
I love you)  Isn't she the cutest?

Our next miracle is Romina. She is 24 years old and single. She is Evangelist but not active right now. This week we were able to teach her for the first time without her mom (who is SUPER firm in her faith and tends to dominate the lessons) present and we had an amazing lesson. She shared with us a part of her story that really opened all of our hearts to the spirit. Her three year old son was playing when he fell and landed on his head. He was in the hospital for a few days but eventually was pronounced brain dead and passed away. She then distanced herself from her church and God but wants to come back again. We shared the plan of salvation and the doctrine of eternal families. The spirit in the room was so incredibly strong not one of us could deny it. She really just has such a light and I know the Lord has prepared her life to hear this message.

And of course our two biggest miracles, David and Cecilia. Each time I am with them my love grows. Even when I am not with them I am thinking of how much I love them and what scripture, or article or lesson will help them next.

I love her!

This week I had the incredibly sacred opportunity to give them their pre-interviews for baptism. It was so amazing to hear their testimonies as they shared how they have grown and changed. I learned this week that they were at the point of separation when we first began teaching them. They didn't come to church the first two weeks because they were fighting, but thanks to the gospel, their relationship is now stronger than ever. David talked of how his faith in Christ has grown and Cecilia told us how she wants to be baptized so she can be a member of Church of Jesus Christ and become free of her sins. Being a witness of the change the gospel can affect in a family really is the greatest joy in the world.

I know this is the true purpose of the gospel: to bring families back to His presence. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this process. Each week I find myself understanding my purpose as a missionary more and finding more and more joy in accomplishing it.

Thank you for your love and support! I love you sooo much! Have a wonderful week!

Love, your favorite Messi fan,

Hermana Millet

P.S.  I forgot to send you this picture last week of Aldo and Patricia's baptism.

Semana de Mundial! (World Cup Week!)

My dear family:

Happy 4th of July! Guess what? I completely forgot until about 10:00 at night. We had a little conference call with our zone and Hermana Alley was singing God Bless America. I'll be much more festive next year.

I hope your week has been wonderful. Mine sure was. Here's a few of the highlights...

So we got to know President Robertson on Wednesday and I am so excited to work with him and his family. They were also so nice and full of love. We talked a lot with his 17 year old daughter at lunch (her name is Nicole btw, and President's is David Paul) and she is super cute. It was kind of amazing how quickly I felt love for them as well. I still love President Carter with all my heart but I am also super excited to accept President Robertson and follow his direction. He is very patient and loving and just wants us all to do our best.

Today in the SOL (the message from the President) he wrote to us about an article in the Liahona this month about perfection. It was exactly what I needed, and what I think a lot of the mission needs. I was reading that article yesterday as my companion and I were a little sad and thinking about how to improve. My companion was really upset and kept dwelling on our lack of success. I know that we should always be looking for ways to become better missionaries but I also don't want to be sad every Sunday. I think that the Lord is patient with us even when we don't do everything perfectly and he wants us to be happy as we continue trying to improve.

He also gave us some instructions from the church about retention. The church as a whole is focusing a lot more on keeping our converts active after their baptisms and I am sooo excited. That is exactly what we need here. Yesterday in church we had about 20 people (6 of which were missionaries) and the only converts from about the last year were Aldo and Patricia. I have felt like we needed to help with reactivation and retention but we just don't have the time or programs. I really hope we will now be able to help these efforts last.

This week we were really working to build up our teaching pool. We finished last week with just about no one who had potential to progress in the next few months. We worked on visiting less active and recent convert members to help them return to activity and to find more people to teach. Although we didn't find "golden" investigators who came to church their first Sunday yesterday, we did find some great people who have potential to progress. I know it will take time for us to continue to build up our area but we are getting there one person at a time.

On Saturday we had a wonderful experience as we were walking to an appointment. My companion asked if I had ever knocked a certain house as we passed. I never had so we decided to do it right then. The woman who answered let us in and we taught the restoration to her and her 24 year old daughter, Romina. They are evangelists but the daughter is not active right now. Her mother was a little more set in her ways but Romina seemed to really understand what we were saying and wants to know the truth. I hope that as we continue to work with her she will be able to feel the spirit and gain a testimony.

I am continually amazed with the faith of the people here in Argentina. Sometimes it is easy to complain about their faults and the things they don't do, but when I stop and think about the changes some of our investigators make I am so incredibly humbled. This week we taught David and Cecilia tithing. We practiced in our companionship with some of the doubts we thought David especially might have. I know they don't make a ton of money and his family is essential to him. I was expecting that being asked to give some of his hard earned money away might be something difficult, however, as we extended the commitment he accepted without hesitation. Although he doesn't always like it, I know he has a strong testimony of this gospel.

We've got a long way to go, but little by little I believe we are seeing progress here in Bragado.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support. I am so grateful to have the best family in the whole wide world. I pray for you each day!

Love your favorite mundial(World Cup) fan,

Hermana Millet

P.S. Wanna hear a funny story about the rain?

Sometimes as missionaries we take little bike rides in the rain at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday and knock on all the doors of our sleeping investigators who don't come to church. Then we get to church and our skirts are all muddy and wet and we look like wet dogs. And to top it off we have a wet dog that follows us around for an hour on our bikes and then finds his way into the church and enters the chapel. Yeah....that really happened.

P.S.S. Remember that big hideous coat that we bought because you thought I should be warm, even though I wanted to be cute? Thank you. It's still hideous but it's also really warm. I brought it out for the first time this weekend. :)

Raising the Vision

Hello my beautiful family! I hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your long letters. I can't wait to read them!

This week was a disappointing one for us. We did not find great new investigators and set fechas that will last. We also had some problems on Saturday and Sunday in the morning which meant we weren't able to confirm plans for church and resulted in only 2 investigators in Sacrament Meeting. We know we have a lot of work to do this week to reach our goal of 3 baptisms for the month of July and get ready for August. We talked last night about things we can change in our work and in our hearts to have more success.

Hermana Peterson, Aldo, Patricia and Hermana Millet

Aldo and Patricia have been listening to the missionaries for about 3 years now. They were waiting for their papers from Mendoza so they could get married and then baptized. Basically, they've been dry members for years. When Hermana Suarez came on divisions a few months ago she was able to talk to some friends in Mendoza to send the papers they needed. On Friday they had their wedding (we couldn't go because we were in Ramos :( but the members threw an awesome lunch afterward) and yesterday they were baptized. The first Elder that taught them lives in Buenos Aires so he and his family traveled so he could baptize Patricia. The service was flawless and incredibly beautiful. I am so grateful I was able to see this step in their progression!

Jennifer with Hermana Carter

Hermana Carter has had as grand an influence in my life as President Carter. She is one of the most beautiful, spiritual, strong women I know. I am so grateful for her love, friendship and example. She has always found time to talk with me personally. On Friday she told me about your letter mom and how nice it was. I am so grateful to have gotten to know her and have another example of a righteous woman in my life.

On Friday in our last leadership meeting President Carter shared with us 4 focuses of the mission: members, families, worthy converts/repentance, teachings. Most of the ideas were things I already knew but it really helped me to raise my vision and remember my purpose here in the mission.

I have some regret about getting caught up in trying to reach my monthly goals and not focusing on working in the best way to baptize families and people that are really converted and will stay active their whole lives. I am sad to see that many of my converts from my first area in Lujan whom I thought were worthy converts, have not stayed worthy of the covenants they made. I have continued to learn throughout my mission and develop a greater understanding of how I can and should be working to build the kingdom of God. For the last six months of my mission I hope I will be able to incorporate all of what I have learned to still baptized every month but to help my investigators reach a state of conversion in which I know they will stay active in the church and help build up the gospel here in Bragado.

For this reason I am so excited about our family with which we are working right now, David and Cecilia. This week we weren't able to see David until Saturday and when we went he told us he hadn't read or prayed for a few days. We could definitely note a difference in him. We talked about the importance of the little things, even when we don't feel like we want to talk to Heavenly Father. He seemed to be a little better later in the lesson and on Sunday. They stayed for all three hours of church and then another hour for the baptism. We then ate lunch with them around 3:00. It was the 29th of the month so we ate niokis, a traditional Argentine dish. It was pretty good.  This week Cecilia told me that they are saving any extra money they receive so they can travel to Utah and be sealed in the Salt Lake temple in a year. She also went to our English class on Wednesday and has been practicing praying in English! I really just feel like they are my good friends and I am so excited to have found them!

We have so much work to do in our area but David and Cecilia give me hope. There are prepared people waiting for us if we can become the prepared missionaries the Lord needs.

We also had another little miracle that I will try to tell you about in 3 minutes. David gave us the referral for his brother about a week ago and we have gone by almost everyday but could never find them. On Thursday we finally found them at home and taught their whole family the plan of salvation! It was amazing! They have four beautiful children and were married about 2 months ago. As with all investigators, they have some challenges but I have faith that we can help them understand their need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray for them to open up their hearts and feel the spirit! I have high hopes for them!

That's about all I have time for! I love you SOOOO Much! Until next week!

Sincerely,

Hermana Millet

P.S. Things might change here soon, so I took a picture of the mission office to remember.

Miracle Week in Bragado!

Familia:

Wow! What an amazing week. As I mentioned last week, in the last transfer I was feeling a little lacking in...something. Heavenly Father knows our needs, however, and is so merciful. He blessed me with an amazing companion and since the first day she came to Bragado we haven't stopped seeing miracles. From the first lesson we taught together I felt a great spirit with Hermana Peterson and in each lesson afterward I have continued to learn from her teaching. I know I personally, as well as the city of Bragado, needed her to be here.

Introducing Hermana Peterson

Hermana Peterson is from Arkansas. She is 2...1 I think and is awesome. I think I mentioned her in a letter about five months ago when she shared an experience with the HLE about her desire to improve and the miracles she saw. Since that time I have respected her and now I have the opportunity to work with her!

She is studying to be a nurse at BYU, has four brothers and sisters, all of her family is active in the church. I can harmonize when I sing again (HOORAY!). She is always happy and positive and full of the spirit.

She goes home in September (one more transfer after this) so if we stay together after this transfer the chances that I get to stay here in Bragado until December are pretty high (yes I have figured it out) lol.

That's about what I know so far. I'll keep you updated as to how it goes but right now I couldn't be happier.

I can't express how grateful I feel this week for the spirit that I have felt each day since Monday. I began planning our week thinking that I wouldn't be back until Saturday night. From Sunday night until we began working on Monday I was praying fervently that the Lord would bless us as we were worthy. From 6:00 Monday night until 9:30 Tuesday night we taught 10 lessons with a member and 3 others and found 7 new investigators. It was seriously a miracle, but it was just the beginning. Heavenly Father has been preparing our area and we have been seeing the harvest day after day this week.

Some of our greatest miracles have come with David and Cecilia who have my heart right now. Each and every day I am more and more impressed with them and their progress. Tuesday night we taught the plan of salvation and Hermana Morales said goodbye. They were both upset, and especially David. In his closing prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for sending us both to bring their family the truth. It was one of the most heartfelt prayers I have heard and it was such a needed confirmation to me of his progress. I knew Cecilia was progressing wonderfully but I wasn't sure if David really had a testimony of the restoration. From that moment on, however, I have seen him progress drastically. He finally started reading the Book of Mormon and hasn't stopped. He not only reads but understands and asks questions. He and Cecilia are looking up all they can find about temples, the word of wisdom, fasting etc. on mormon.org and are always looking to strengthen their understanding and testimonies.

David and Cecilia with their wedding papers!

You will probably be sick of hearing about David and Cecilia in a month but they are wonderful.

They have been looking up information about Utah trying to find our house, looking at the cost of hotels and flights and the distance of our house from the city haha. I'm hoping they can come visit us and maybe even get sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in a year!

One of the greatest blessings of watching someone really become converted to the gospel is their desire to share. Cecilia had already sent us to her family and this week David gave us the references of his siblings and parents. On Friday we found and taught David's mom and her pareja, Aldo, with Cecilia. They accepted the restoration immediately. The spirit in that lesson was a missionary's dream come true. They agreed to read, pray and come to church without hesitation and were there in the district conference on Sunday.

Unfortunately, Aldo is in the process of a divorce and so it could be years until they are able to be married and baptized. I know they are prepared, however, and my goal is to help them reach a point of conversion that they will be willing to wait, whatever time it takes, to be baptized.

The pictures above are from our district conference this weekend! I love them! It was Pres. Carter's last Sunday. We had it in the firestation and there was a black cat wandering around the whole time lol. The picture with Hermana Peterson and I has Cecilia in the background and the other one with Jazmin (she burnt her face :() has her grandma (David's mom) and her boyfriend (basically husband) in the background. They are awesome!

I couldn't be more grateful for the miracles we are seeing here in Bragado. I know I have a lot more to learn and grow to be worthy and prepared to find more prepared people here but I feel like our work is just getting started here.

We also had a wonderful moment visiting the Rizzo family this week. President Carter helped to reactivate them about a year ago. Their son just left for a mission in Brazil last week. I had never met his parents, however, because his father is dying of cancer right now and they can't come to church. I have wanted to meet them since I've been here and so finally we passed by on Saturday. Hermana Rizzo was so excited because the hermanas hadn't been by in a long time. We talked with Hermana Rizzo for a few minutes and then asked if we could say hello to her husband. He can't talk or move very well but whispered to us in English. We asked if we could sing to him and he told us his favorite hymn is "I know that My Redeemer Lives". We sang for him and the spirit was so incredibly strong. It was just a little tender mercy to feel the spirit in their home and help this sweet family have a moment of peace.

President and Sister Carter with the Rizzo family.

One last miracle for the week, Aldo and Patricia have been investigators since I got here. They have been waiting for papers from Mendoza for years so they can get married. They are pretty much dry members. They finally received the papers and their wedding is this Friday. Aldo had to be interviewed by President Carter for something that occurred in the past but yesterday they both passed their interviews and right now everything is set for their baptism after waiting three years!

I am so happy at the progress we are seeing and the wonderful people we getting to know and help come unto Christ. I know this is the work of the Lord and that there is no greater joy. I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your love, prayers and support. I pray for you each day and hope for your well being and happiness. I hope you have a great week and see a miracle each day!

Love your favorite miracle lover, Hermana Millet

PS. I almost forgot to tell you! I didn't have to stay in Ramos this week! My companion has a family of five that she was working with in her last area of Moron that is being baptized soon. President was trying to be nice and let her stay for their baptism but it turns out it actually isn't for another week or two...oops haha. So we got back late Wednesday night and worked all week.

This is how the streets looked after the World Cup game.
  I don't know if you can see the flags, but it is pretty great!

Jen's Father's Day gift to her dad.

I can't seem to figure out how to post this as a direct link, but if you highlight the address and right click you can "go to" the link so you can see Hermana Millet's Father's Day gift to her dad.  Her companion is recording and the other singer is Hermana Romina Martinez from the ward in Bragado. They were practicing for a song they sang in church on Sunday. It made us all cry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGsSA9t8UM&feature=youtu.be

Letter from one of Jen's kindergarten moms.

Look at this adorable email this mom sent me! Mommy, thanks for the blog. You're the best. I wouldn't get any of these letters if it weren't for you.

Hi!  This is Lindsey's mom.  I just wanted to let you know that Lindsey and I have been following your blog as you are on your mission.  She watches and adores you!  She has even started, literally, saving her pennies for her mission.  She turned seven in March and is such a sweet girl.  She has mastered the two-wheeled bike, reading, and she is quite the singer.  She is a light to our family and we are so blessed to have her and her brother here.
I just wanted to share a little bit with you as I am feeling impressed to do so tonight.  Siona (Lindsey's Dad and I) have been together for a while.  We were- what's the word- juntado for a long time and struggling to become pregnant.  We had both grown up members of the church but had fallen so far away.  We had two miscarriages and were feeling despair.  That is when Laua's and Lindsey's biological father (Siona's brother) passed away unexpectedly in Samoa.  We tried for several years to bring the kids here to America and finally the mother said yes.  That is when our life really changed.  We started going back to church, paying tithing, and we got married!  Through miraculous workings of the Lord, we brought the kids over and we were sealed in the temple two years ago this July.   I am a firm believer that the Lord had a plan for our family all along.  I feel deep in my heart that Lindsey, Laua, and Siona and I were a family in the preexistence and that we loved each other so much.  I think the biggest lesson for me is that although I tried to think I was okay being juntado, I was missing out on so many blessings that are possible only with an eternal family.Thank you for setting such a great example for our daughter.  You are a really cool lady.  I hope Lindsey can see you again when you get back. Take care and we'll keep watching and praying for you.  Sincerely, Pam Tafili