Thanksgiving

Sorry, I didn't get last weeks Thanksgiving letter posted. Here it is:

Hola Hola!! Happy Thanksgiving last Thursday!! Thanks for all the great pictures of the annual Idaho trip. Those are always so fun, with the classic Bon fire, all the great food, the family! Sounds like it was a blast, as it always is.

Elder Stevens and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had the opportunity to go eat lunch with the Escarate family. They served us some scrumptious Chinese food, with chicken and mango sauce. Don´t worry, even though I did not have thanksgiving turkey this year, I was still fed very well! I am so thankful for so many things in my life. My family, my mission, my friends, the gospel… I could keep going all day writing about the things that I am thankful for. I am so in debt to God for all these precious blessings that he has given me in my life. I walk down the street and look into the eyes of so many people that are sad, and look as if they have nothing to be thankful for. I see people that were not born in the most ideal circumstances, and I ask myself, Why me? Why was I born in such great circumstances? Why was I born into the best family in the world with great friends? Why was I chosen to be a member of the only true church in the world when there are so few of us? There are over 30,000 sects in just Christianity, but we also have all the Buddhism, Atheism, Islam… I cannot even put into words how thankful I am for freedom, for happiness, and for this wonderful life that God has blessed me with. I understand that the root of all this happiness is God, and I owe it all to him. How grateful I am for this blessing to be able to share this knowledge with others, that God loves us and that he has a plan for us.

Elder Stevens and I baptized together!! Jaer was baptized yesterday along with his son Camilo. I had the opportunity to baptize Camilo, which was actually kinda funny. The water in the baptismal font was pretty deep for him. Camilo is super small for his age. When I walked into the font, it reached just below my hips, but when he walked in, he had to go onto his tippy toes to just barely get his mouth out of the water to breathe. When I baptized Camilo, he had to step on my foot in order to make it work. Let’s just say I had no problem submerging him completely under the water.

Reinaldo was also baptized this week. He is an investigator that I put a baptismal date with on an interchange in Forestal. Then I got to interview him for his baptism, and he is such a stud. He is already planning on serving a mission. His life has flipped 180 degrees, and has now found happiness and hope. The water that he was baptized in was the dirtiest I have ever seen. When Reinaldo went under the water, you could not see him at all, it was that dirty.

I see Christmas wherever I go!! It still feels so weird seeing all these Christmas things and having it be the middle of summer. The song, I´m dreaming of a WHITE Christmas has only ONE meaning here in Viña. That meaning is that Everyone will be dressed in WHITE for baptism during the Hollidays!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I am definitely dreaming of a white Christmas for Ninozca, Mario, Carlos, Jermain, Hector, and whoever else the lord puts in our path. Carlos is telling everyone that he is getting baptized on Christmas. He is pretty excited for it, but the rest of the family still has a long way to go. They are not so sure yet.

I love you all so much!!

Cuidense!!

Elder Millard