Week 9 in Coquimbo

Some awesome pictures

Miracles!

Hola! Things are going great down here in good old Coquimbo Chile. Its going into spring time so the days are starting to get nice and toasty. Sorry to make you all jealous of the great weather here haha. This week seriously has been amazing. Recently, i have been studying in Mormon chapter 9, where it talks about miracles, and i get to see miracles every day of my life. (I recommend reading this chapter again). The lord is in this work. Miracles have not ceased and if we pray with faith, the lord will give us miracles if it is in his will. I have seen so many miracles already on my mission.

Tierras blancas had 3 baptisms this sunday from the other 2 elders that are working in a different part. It was incredible and the spirit was so strong. They asked me to give a musical number so i had the opportunity to play and sing ´´Venid a Mi´´ or Come Follow Me. Yet another example of how powerful music is in bringing the spirit. One of the languages of Heaven. After the baptisms, the people that were baptized got to give their testimonies. It was emotional to see how much the gospel has changed the lives of these people. They now have hope and a light in their lives.

Elder Saldivar is great! We get along great and work great together. He is a great example of patience and determination. He is a great example to me of patience and humility. And i´m so happy i´m learning more spanish from a Mexican because these chileans speak terrible spanish haha. Hopefully his form of speaking rubbs off on me alot ha. We get along great, have great conversations and laugh alot. obviously not too much because us Elders have to have quiet dignity right...

Our investigators are doing great! Alejandra and Helen are incredible and are on track for their baptism on the 31st of October... Steph and Tiffs birthday and Halloween weekend. What better way to celebrate these festivities than to have 2 baptisms! Yeah! We are trying to teach more of their family because they have like 10 people living in their house but its a little complicated... we are working on it because the purpose is to baptize families so they can all get on the path of being together forever.

So Joselyn passed her baptisimal interview and is ready to go for this sat the 16th!!! So excited. Last night, (sunday), we went over to her house to teach her and check up on her. The deal with Joselyn is that her family does not really take care of the kids too much so she lives at a member house. The Problem is that the members that she is living with went to Santiago for a while. So last night, we went to the house of Joselyns parents. We have tried to talk to Joselyn´s mom before but she is not very open to listening to us and was always ´´busy´´. But like i said before, the lord never ceases to give miracles. When we went over to teach Joselyn, her mom walks in and we started talking to her. After talking for a while, she started to open up a little bit. We ended up talking about baptism and what her daughter will be doing this sat. At first, when we invited her to go to Joselyn´s baptism, she said that she did not want to go. After talking for a little while about baptism and the Holy Ghost, we asked her how she felt. She said... i feel calm and peaceful and happy... We then described that those are feelings of the spirit and that the spirit is testifying of what we are saying is true. After talking a little more about the blessings that come from these sacred ordinances, we asked her if she wanted to be baptized... and she said... Yes!! Wow! Miracle! She accepted a date for the 7th of november!... Sheri´s Birthday!!! We are now working with Joselyn´s whole family to get them baptized and on track to being with eachother forever!

We also found 8 new people to teach this week so things are rocking here in Tierras Blancas with Elder Saldivar and I. I love my mission, I love this Gospel and i love you all! until next week!

Elder Millard

First Baptism

Mon, October 4, 2010 11:31:49 AM

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Hola! This week has been incredible as always. Elder Mace, my great trainer, left coquimbo after being here for 6 months! and you know what that means... A new companion! So here we go... his name is Elder Saldivar from Mexico! He is so awesome and i am excited to work with him. Extreme opposites from Elder Mace haha so there will be a few adjustments but he is super nice and really chill. His spanish is So clear, which makes a world of difference, because the Chileans speak terrible haha. So i am going to learn tons of spanish this change. We get along great and this will be a great change!

So now that my new comp has come here, that means i am in charge of not getting lost ha. Until he gets to know the members, i am in charge of a lot of things and it will stretch me but i´m down with the challenge! I have had to lead a lot this last week and at the end of the day, i find that i am super tired because i actually have to concentrate and lead the work insted of following someone that knows everything ha. Its been such a great experience though and i´m grateful for the opportunity to learn. My comp is so chill though and really easy to work with. He is a great Elder and this will be a great change.

There are Tirantulas, (the huge spiders) here in chile and the other day, i got to hold one! Gives me shivers just thinking about it because i am super arachnafobic. (however you spell it) ha.

Conference was Amazing!!! Us missionaries had the opportunity to watch all the sessions. The gringos in one room to watch it in english, and the Latinos in the main room with everyone else. Wow, some of those talks were incredible and i´m so grateful that we have prophets and apostles today to guide and teach us. We are all so lucky to be led by such great leaders!

Missionary work is So amazing. I get the opportunity to see people change every day from feeling the spirit. This week, with two of our ´´fechas´´, we invited them to come to conference and they did. They arrived really early so we had the opportunity to give them a tour of the church. We showed them some of the pictures in the halls and taught some of the key principles of the gospel. At one point, we showed them the picture of Christ being baptized by John, then we went into the baptisimal faunt. They told us that they felt the spirit so strong and she said ´´I will be in there one day´´, Wow! she has changed so much is being touched by the Gospel. She carries around her Book of Mormon to read whenever she has spare time, because she told us that she has noticed a huge difference in her life when she reads the book. She knows it is true and is applying the teachings into her life. Lets all take this example and take advantage of the truth that we have in the Book of Mormon. the prophets have told us multiple times to ´´study, study, study´´ because our prophets know the difference that it makes and the importance of it. I am witnessing this difference in the life of Alejandra and all of her 8 children. So cool and i cannot wait to see her and her children being baptized and on the path to Eternal life with our Heavenly Father. She told us that she has never really been one to unite with any groups or churches, but she said that she felt something different when us Elders came into her house and she was touched by the spiril. After conference, Alejandra and Helen told us that they loved it and are excited to come to church next week.

Joselin is So ready and So excited to be baptized on the 16th of October. I feel humbled that she asked me to baptize her. My first baptism in the mission. She has changed so much as well! She has a new light about her and is super happy. Thats whats supposed to happen right, its called the plan of happiness. By keeping the commandments, thats where you will find true happiness that lasts forever. Wow i love my mission.

Thank you all for all your prayers and support! Love you all and talk to ya´ll next week! Chao!

Elder Millard

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A new companion ...who will he be?

Hola!! Greetings from Chile! This last week was absolutely amazing! So many great experiences! The thing thats so crazy about this week is that it was the last week of this change so we found out this sat if we are staying or going! and the big news is.......I´m staying here in tierras blancas!! I´m so excited! i love Coquimbo and i love tierras Blancas! But the other big news is that my trainer, after being here for 6 months, is leaving. we find out today where he is going and who our new comps are going to be. But my time with elder Mace has benn So awesome! he is a great missionary and we have had some great experiences.´I definitely got lucky with my trainer. The only English person in all of Chile.

The lord has truly blessed Elder Mace and I this week with tons of success! After this week, we ended up with 7 investigators with a baptisimal date, and another 5 possibilities!!! So awesome! before this week, it has been really hard finding new people to teach but we were showing our faith by trying to be creative and do everything we could to find. Now, after the trial of our faith, come the blessings!!! They are all Great!

We had interchanges this week and i stayed here in tierras blancas to run everything. Elder Batty, our district leader told me, Hey elder, i think you are ready to run everything so i´m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride! ha! It was hard! haha Leading lessons is one of my struggles so far but it will come with time, and I got lost like 2 times haha! I feel a huge responsibility now that my trainer is leaving to get lessons with members and to run this place for the next couple of weeks until my next comp gets to know Tierras Blancas. It will push me to the limit but i know the lord will help me!

This last friday, Elder Mace and i did something Super awesome with music. We set up a fireside where we would teach the first lesson, but with music. So we had the other two missionaries give like 2 min talks on each of the points in the first lesson ´´the restoration´´ and Elder Mace and i would perform a musical number with a message that goes with the point that the other missionaries talked about. It was So powerful! We had the ward there, and a bunch of their friends that are not members. It was a success! We fortified many of the investigators that have a baptisimal date, and we strengthened the ward as well. Great experience!! I´m so grateful that i have had the chance to have a musical companion and also to have the opportunity to share our music to touch peoples lives.

Funny story. So here i was in the pension, talking with Elder Mackay. The next thing i know, Elder mackay yells...¨¨ Elder Millard Look out! ´´ ´´ Get over here!´´ So my heart like stops and i jump up and run over to the other side of the room. He then tells me to look down at the floor... and to my surprise, there was a Huge spider crawling towards us! it was about to crawl up my leg. He told me it was a Rinkón spider and it has been known to kill people here in Chile!!! AH! I already have arachnafobia but this just made it worse haha! We picked up a shoe and dominated that spider right away.

The mission is awesome! I would say that this week has been my favorite week so far! So much is going on, So much animo (excitement), baptisms, and everything! I love my Mission so much! love you all!

Elder Millard

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Independence Day in Chile

Hey everyone!!!! I really can´t believe i´m on the last week of my first change! Its been so great and such a great experience! I have learned so much from my trainer Elder Mace. So i find out this sat if i´m staying in coquimbo or leaving, getting a new comp... i´m excited to see what happens. but these last six weeks have seriously been amazing! missionary work is so awesome and so rewarding.

This last week was the biggest holliday of the year in Chile, the 18 de septiembre, Chilean independance day. And its so great because its the most celebrated up here in coquimbo. I must say though, this last week was really hard to teach and find but i´ll tell you what, i have never eaten so much meat in a week in my entire life! haha. seriously, every lunch was a Huge asao or bbq. The food is great here! It was really wierd though, when Elder mace and i would walk down the street, it was basically empty because everyone was at ´´La Pampilla¨´, one of the huge parties for the 18th up here in Coquimbo. it lasts for 4 days. it was also really crazy because most of the people that we did see on the street were Super drunk! The 18th was crazy! yesterday for pday, Elder Mace and i got permission to go to La pampilla with a member, so that is exactly what we did! it was So cool! so many people and so many little booths to buy stuff. everything was so cheap and it was So awesome to see more of the Chilean culture and be appart of the pampilla of the Bicentenial. this year it was especially big because Chile is officially 200 years old. So this week was really unique but super awesome!

The Chilean national dance is called the Cueca. So everyone was dancing the cueca in the street with music blasting, at some of the parties that were around that we saw, and also at the pampilla there was alot of cueca. On the 18th, we stopped by Joselin´s house to teach her a little bit then to spend a little time with them, and i learned how to dance the cueca a little bit... it was a terrible attempt at it but at least i tried haha. they were laughing at me... i guess it was pretty bad haha.

So our Awesome momita that has done everything for us is moving to Santiago this week! so sad!! She was so awesome and such a good example of service and selflessness. She seriously went more beyond to help us missonaries out. on a random night, she would just give us a call and bring us a bunch of dougnuts or a big cake or something. and her luches were incredible. whenever we needed anything, we would just call the momita and she would be happy to help. Great example to me. We will miss her dearly

So funny experience... Just a little background, the chileans are very ´´of skin people´´ so when they great eachother, they give eachother a kiss on the cheek. So here i was in an investigators house, sitting on the couch. and the next thing i know, this lady comes up behind me and grabs my hand and moves in for the kiss!!! i could not do anything because i was on the couch and i did not want to offend her so i just took it. a big fat one right on my right cheek. my first kiss as a missionary! haha. Gotta love Chile right.

So Elder Mace and i have found a few new investigators that are great! the first two are Miguel and Eduardo. they are about 23 and 27 and accepted a baptisimal date. They have a long way to go but i´m so happy that the lord blessed elder mace and i with two more people that are on the path to accepting the gospel. We also found another Great investigator whos name is Rosa. she is So awesome! her parents are members and were sealed in the temple so she knows a little bit about the church. but she felt the spirit when Elder Mace and i taught and she is going to talk to her husband to see if she should get baptized. She told us that she wants her whole family to get baptized, if it happens! That would be So great! there are 5 of them in the family.

Our other investigators with baptisimal dates are doing good as well... for the most part ha. So Danisa and Jeovanni went on vacation for the 18th week. we had to push their date back because they just aren´t ready. Elder mace and i are really going to talk to them and see if this is what they really want. They are so close, they just need that extra little drive to make it. Joselin is absolutely amazing! she has a really hard life but she is happy because she has the gospel. She is living with some members, but this last week, she came on her own to church even though she lives super far away and had to walk. She really wants this and its so cool to see how the Gospel is changing her life.

I love you all!

Elder Millard

Zone conference pictures

Coquimbo Zone chillin

Zone Conference in Coquimbo

Hey Hey HEY!!!!!! wow its already week 4 and i really can磘 believe it! things are going so great up here in Coquimbo, the best zone in all of the vi馻 del mar mission!! i磎 absolutely loving my time here on the mission! times are hard sometimes but i am learning and growing so much and the best part is, i get to help people all day and i have found that when you forget about yourself and start caring more about other people, thats when true happiness comes! so thats why missions are so great, we care about others so much that we want to give them something that will bring them the most happiness ever, a chance to live with their families forever and live with God forever, the gospel. So cool that i have this opportunity!

My spanish is really coming aliong! i磎 so happy that the lord has helped me out so much! the people are not just speaking jibberish, i can actually hear real words now that make sense! its a great concept isn磘 it! haha.

This last week was absolutely amazing! i had so many great experiences. the first one i will share is my interchange in a place called La Parta Alta right next to the huge cross in coquimbo, with the zone leaders. Words cannot describe how cool this place was! the view of the ocean and all of the colorful houses and the huge cross is absolutely amazing! it really was an eye opening experience though because the place where i work in tierras blancas has some decent houses that are made of brick and have a roof. but it was so cool, here in la parta alta, the houses are, lets just say not the nicest houses you磍l ever see. there were dirt roads with so many dogs everywhere and the best view ever with the most interesting ╤ouses创 i have ever seen in my life! It was SO cool to be there for a day! and it was great to go on interchanges with on of my zone leaders, Elder Ho. He is so awesome and i learned so much about how to become a better missionary. These interchanges are so awesome! and lunch today, well lets just say that i will tell you about that one in about two years haha

So this week, we had a mission conference with a general authority Elder Zeballos. All of us missionaries in the north, about 50 missionaries went to a place called La Serena to have the conference in a church. We all arrived early and waited for the mission President Gillespie and Elder Zeballos to arrive. when they did, we all sang our mission song with Plenty of enthusiasm. then we took some pictures and then formed a line to greet pres Gillespie and his wife and Elder Zeballos and his wife. right after that, i had to book it into the chapel to start playing prelude music because i was asked the play the piano for the conference. it was So crazy to play prelude for a general authority, my mission president and 50 missionaries!! This conference was Amazing! president Gillespie started and talked for a little while then we had breakfast. after breakfast, the second half started where Elder Zeballos talked. He talked about a scripture in 2 nephi 5:27, where it talkes about living in a manner of happiness and the importance of being happy. he also talked about potential and that we do not know how much potential we have until we strive to achieve it. and when we achieve something, there is always more. He gave a great example of when you look up at a mountain, you only see that mountain and that mountain looks like its the highest. but once you climb that mountain, you can see off in the horizon, other mountains that are even higher. we need to think about this with our lives and the potential that we all have. Elder Mace and i had a great opportunity during this conference! we were asked to give a special musical number, so on thursday, the day before, we spent an hour to arrange joseph smith磗 first prayer with praise to the man and secret prayer into a piano duet! So after arranging that, we had the great opportunity to perform it for this conference! Such a great experience! Music is Amazing!

Our investigators are all doing really well! Danisa has had a problem with smoking, but she has gone from 5 cigarettes every day to 1 cigarette every day and she is planning on straght up quitting this week so she can be baptized on the 26th. so that would be great if you could all pray for her to have the strength to quit! Her son Jeovani is getting lazy but he still wants to be baptized so pray for him to have more of a desire to read the book of mormon and for him to get an answer to his prayers. our other investigator Joselin is doing so well! She has a really hard situation, her parents basically abandoned her so she is living with a member family but all day but sleeping in her house. She loves church and comes every week and really wants to get baptized! She has a fecha for the 16th of october!

This last sat was the 11th and it is pretty crazy in Coquimbo every year. So all the missionaries were required to be in their pensions at 6 o clock. our momita is Super rich and she bought us So much food so we invited the zone leaders and the assistants over to our pension and we had a Huge Asado, or bbq. It was a blast! I am eating So much food and believe it or not, i think i磎 gaining weight haha! i never thought the day would come! ha.

Well i love missionary work and i love you all! until next week!

Elder Millard