Talent show and tours

Hola Hola!! Its so great to hear that everything is great back at home! Everything is going well here. Sounds like a lot of fun going to the mountains for a nice morning run! The weather looks so beautiful! But i´m not going to use the work jealousy, don´t you worry. I´m just going to practice the Christlike attribute, patience. haha. This week was a great one. We had a lot of success. I´m loving working with Elder Alvarez. We work great together and he is helping me out alot. Tha argentines have a distinct spanish accent. Instead of saying Elder Millard, it sounds like (Elder Mishard). The (ll) and the (y) has a (sh) sound to the argentines. Since my last two companions have been argentine, my spanish has transformed a little bit and i´m totally starting to talk like an argentine. Everyone makes fun of me for it. haha. Anyways, lets get started with the good experiences of the week.

Elder Alvarez and I have had the blessing of teaching lots and lots of evangelicos, (evangelist). It has been a big blessing because for the Evangelicos, the music is very important. The majority of their worship is centered on music. I don´t know why God has put so many evangelists in our way, but it has been quite interesting teaching them. For them, they are not quite certain about their history, or where their religion came from. They are confused about what happened after the death of Jesus Christ, and do not have an answer to whether or not there was a gran apostasy. Many times, as we have taught the restoration of the gospel, it is as if a light has turned on within them. But other times, their hearts are so shut that it is impossible for them to gain a testimony. Elder Alvarez and I have been studying lot of the Bible to be able to teach all of them more efficiently.

Elder Bowen and his wife have been coming with us to visit Pastor Vergara. They created a great relationship right away. They will help us out alot with the whole family. The other day, we had just barely finished lunch, and then had an appointment with the Vergara family. The Bowens came with us. The lunch we had was huge by the way. We were super full. When we got there, we sat down, and started talking, not knowing what we were in for. The whole time we were talking, someone was preparing tons of food for us. When the time came, they invited everyone to the table and we could not refuse. So we sat down at the table and they brought us our plates. Now i´m not lying when I tell you this, these plates were absolutely Gynormous! Enough to feed a family of 3. We were now obligated to eat all of it. Oh the joys of the mission hahah. We are praying and searching for guidance on how we can help this family, and perhaps their congregation, recognize the truth and have sufficient faith to act.

This week was the epic talent show. We had lots and lots of people there. The best part is that Pastor Vergara had plenty of his congregation there. We filled the whole cultural hall. We all started with an opening hymn. THe hymn was How Great Thou Art. This song is special because all the evangelists use this song as well. After the introduction and opening prayer, Elder Alvarez and I had the opening numbers. We did a stellar arrangement of Come thou fount in English and spanish. Then another arrangement of Nearer my God to thee. It went really well! I have missed performing haha. THe show went really well! Pastor Vergara and his crew played a few songs. All I can say is wow!. Its like Gospel, soul music, but mexican style and in spanish. They had an acordian, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and a choir. Good stuff. The show was so great because the purpose of the show came true. The evangelist congregation and our congregation now have a great relationship. The Vergaras and their congregation all want to come back for the next show!! Great experience. Lots of seeds of faith planted that day.

Yesterday on sunday, we did some tours of the church. The interesting part about the whole thing is that it was the anniversary of La Ligua. To celebrate, they had a huge concert in the center of La Ligua. The church is located right on the corner of the center. The artist that came to play was Gon Wana. He is basically a Bob Marley wannabe. So as we were doing tours of the church, there was a huge Reggae concert in the plaza. Suprisingly, we had lots and lots of success. We had the opportunity to do 7 tours in the space of about 2 hours. I guess Gon Wana works miracles. I´m a new fan of Reggae tours. haha.

Well Thats all folks. haha. I love you all! Thank you so much for all the support and love.

Que estén bien!

Elder Millard

Pastor Vergara and his family

Hola Hola!! Como están!! This week was full of adventures and surprises. But before I start, I want to congratulate Sheri on Graduating!!!! Thats so awesome!! So summer has officially started! Enjoy the warmth haha. Sounds like it was fun having Steph and Mark down for the weekend. Sounds like everything is going great back at home! As you may know, this was the last week of the change. My companion/child/hijito Elder Colman found out this week that he has to get surgery on his meniskus so he is on his way to Buenos Aires Argentina as we speak. Bummer! I Never thought my child would be going home before me! haha. By the way, this change has gone by in the blink of an eye.

So on thursday, Elder Baker, my district leader, called me and told me that I have to prepare a map marking where all our investigators are, for the new missionaries that are coming in. He told me that it is about a 99.9 percent chance that i´m leaving La Ligua. President very rarely leaves a missionary in an area for more than 4 changes. So he told me to pack all my stuff and prepare everything to leave this sunday night. So I did. I packed everything, and said goodbye to a few people... Saturday night rolls around, and they tell us officially what our changes are. My zone leader calls me and says, "Elder Millard, se....... Queda!! which means that I´m staying another change!! haha. Obviously the Lord has something else for me to do here in La Ligua. But Í´m pretty excited.

So it´s been a while since i´ve given an update on Pastor Vergara. We visited him and his wife this week, actually for the purpose of saying goodbye. I guess i´ll have to surprise them this week haha. So when we were there, they started talking about a documentary that they saw on descovery channel about how they have found a direct liniage from the Native Americans, to the Jews. In the documentary, they were talking about how the Mormon religion is the only religion in the world that has this revealed truth in their doctrine. This was another little eye oppener for them. They told us that they are members of their church right now only because that was the first church that they found. But they explained to us that they are still open to looking for the truth. They have been talking to President Gillespie about what would happen if they were to get baptized. (because obviously they are considering it). They told us their vision. Their vision is that one day, if they come to know its true, they will convert their congregation of 140 people and form another branch in the church. Pastor Vergara could still be a leader, and his congregation would all be members of the true church of Jesus Christ. The miracle is that they are considering it. They have tasted of the light and truth. They told us that they feel something unique special and different when we visit them. They would be an incredible family in the church. They are great leaders and love Jesus Christ. The thing is, it is a very complicated situation, but if it´s the lords will, great things could happen here in La Ligua in the near future. For the time being, we have the talent show planned for the 18th of June. His congregation and our congregation are going to meet up and hopefully create a bond of Christian friendship and trust. Planting some seeds. Hopefully we will see some fruits!

This last Sunday, the day that my companion left La Ligua, a miracle happened. It quite fitting actually. So to give a little background of the miracle, La Ligua has not seen rain in over a year. But lo and behold, this sunday, the same sunday that my comp was going home, the Lord decides to send a huge rainstorm! Tons and Tons of rain! Obviously me and Elder Colman were not prepared for this so we tried to avoid the exposure as much as possible, but the results were innevitable. We came home absolutely soaked!! It was super fun though. A nice change! La Ligua apparently was super sad that Elder Colman was leaving.

So today, I recieved a call from the Assistants. They told me that President Gillespie has another assingment for me. I´m going to be the new District Leader in the district Petorca!!! I´m super excited! It will be a little extra work but i´m grateful for this opportunity to learn, progress and serve.

I love you all! I pray for you often! The church is True!!!

Elder Millard

Spiritually self sufficient investigators

Hola Hola! Wow, what a crazy week this has been. Crazy but good of course! Thanks so much for all the letters and support. Its incredible to know that all is well back at home! Congrats Tiff and Aaron on finally having RJ home with you. Robbie, I just saw the picture of you and mom in those hope of America shirts, and Please don´t tell me you are already that tall!! HAHAH Rob, I totally want to see a picture of the missing tooth! I can´t believe that happened haha. Those steal the flag games are pretty brutal aren´t they? Congrats Maddi on being an official lifeguard!!! Keeping the family tradition alive. Sheri, good luck with Miss O town this week. You will do InCREDIBLE! OK, now, the summary of this week i will put in two words. Travel and injury.

I say the word Travel because more than half the week, we were traveling and in other parts of the mission. This tuesday, we had our zone meeting in Quillota which was great! We practiced inviting people to be baptized. Along with all the other stuff we do... After the meeting, my comp and i had the opportunity to work in la Calera for the day. We did divisions and I was with Elder Haycock. La Calera is super humble, and there are plenty of things that one should be careful for. Lets just say its not the safest place in Chile. But the lord protects us missionaries so i was not worried. On this interchange, we found two great families that are so ready for the gospel. Great experience. That night, ew had the opportunity to sleep in la Calera and I had the best night sleep of my life. We got to sleep on a nice smoothe comfortable tile floor with a couple of blankets. Oh the memorable experiences of the mission. The next morning, bright and early, we had mission conference. All of the interior zones came together. I love these conferences because I always learn so much!! We talked alot about how to be better teachers. I definitely left a better teacher after this conference.

My comp hurt his leg last week playing futbol. It has been bugging him the whole week and finally, we talked to Hermana Gillespie and she said that we need to get it checked out. So this Friday, we had a nice long trip to Viña del Mar to go see a Traumatologo. (doctor) The results showed that he needs to take it easy this week, which will be super hard considering we walk and walk, comparable to what the pioneers did. We will have to plan and work super smart and efficiently so his leg can rest. In a week, we have to go back to take another test. This test will determine wether he needs surgery or not. If he needs surgery, he will have to go back to Argentina. But he has a great attitude about the whole thing. Yes, this is the injury that I was referring to in the first paragraph.

Spiritual experience: We have been teaching this lady named Ingrid for about 3 weeks. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and really likes it, but the only problem is, it is really hard to find her. We have not had too many opportunities to be able to have a solid, spiritual lesson with her. But this week, our time came to really help her understand the importance of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught with power and authority, and she tasted the fruits of the spirit. We taught her how she can know that all this is true, and that is obviously through prayer. She has never really prayed to God like this before, but she believes that if she prays with enough faith, God will answer her prayers. It is so important to help the investigators be spiritually self-sufficient. Teach them to find answers to their own questions, gain their own testimony through scriptures, prayer and church attendance. I love being able to help people understand these ways our Heavenly Father has given us to be able to find answers to any question.

I love you all!

Chao Chao!

Elder Millard

Getting cold in Chile

Hola Hola!!! I did not take any pictures this week so I thought I would take one in the internet cafe, where i´m at right now writing you guys! Chile needs to make up its mind. It is super cold in the mornings, when it reaches about 1:25, it starts to get super hot! After the weather has had its fun making us sweat, it decided to get extremely cold at about 5:30! haha Well, life is great! La Ligua is still perseveering! The members are as strong as ever, the San Martins are doing great, Sebastián is great, everything is just great! This week we had a little scare with the Familia Collao Fres. We did a tour of the church with Pastor Vergara, and we went crazy this week giving out Books of Mormon and looking for the children of God that he has been preparing for us.

Ailin and Marcelo. On the 28th of May, these two exceptional kids will be baptized. They have had some health problems lately, but that has not stopped their desire to keep learning. We had a cool little suprise with them this week. After a lesson, we had left them with a chapter to read in the book of Mormon. (2 Nephi 31) This chapter talks alot about baptism. The next day when we went to go visit them, we obviously verified their commitment, and they had done something that I have never seen on my mission up to this point. Ailin had taken notes in a notebook about the verses that we left them. She wanted to make sure she understanded everything. She told us that after she was done studying the scriptures, she was emotional and had a unforgettable spritual experience. This is a lesson to all of us. Often times, we just read the Book of Mormon just to read it and don´t take the time to deeply study it. We skim over the parts that could be of the most importance to us. I personally am going to start studying more deeply the principles that our Heavenly Father has given us in the Book of Mormon.

Mega Tour. We had the opportunity to give a tour of the church to Pastor Vergara. We showed him a few rooms and explained all of the wonderful organizations that we have in the church. He absolutely loved the church. He said it is like a mansion compared to the church that he has for him and his congregation. I could see on his face that he was being touched by the spirit. We keep on planting the little seeds, and one day, I have faith that these seeds will have served for a purpose. The purpose being bringing him and his family the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We then played some ping pong, and Dad, don´t worry, I represented the family name well. haha

Book of Mormon Frenzy. This week, my companion and I recieved a box of Books of Mormon, coupled with all the desire in the world to give out lots this week. Giving Books of Mormon is a great way to find new investigators and the best way to plant seeds that one day may sprout into a baptism. This week, we let very few people pass us in the street. We talked with everyone. If they were interested, we gave them a book of Mormon. By showing the Lord our faith and our desires, he has blessed us this week with success. We keep on finding great potential investigators. I love this training gig. My child is progressing very well and we work very well together.

A little scare. So here we are, eating lunch this last Wednesday. Right after we were done eating, we recieve a phone call from Jessica. She told us to come over to their house as fast as we can. I thought in my head, this does not sound good. The tone of her voice showed that something bad had happened. She said that we need to make a decision as a family, they consider us part of their family now. I was really scared. It could be anything. We prayed to our Heavenly Father to give us the words that were needed so that we may help them overcome whatever they are going through. When we got there, they were all in tears. The situation was alot worse than I thought. The car that Fransisco uses to work, (The only thing they have that helps them gain income), had a short circuit and burst into flames as they were returning to their house. They frantically tried to get everyone out but the doors were stuck. They did not know what to do! They finally got the doors open, after having been trapped in a box of smoke and flames. They ran for water to put the fire out. When the fire was put out, they looked, and it was about 1 inch away from the gas line. If the fire would have reached that, it would have exploded. Also, goodbye to the only thing that this family has that helps them gain an income. Trial after Trial after trial. Now here we were in their house, and we had to say something that would help this family stay active in the church, and recieve the comfort that they so desperately need. I was relying on the help of the lord and the promise that we will be given the words to say, precisely in the moment of when they are needed most. That promise came true. We helped them overcome their doubts, their wounded faith, and their hopelesness. They need your prayers now more than ever. But the happy endind to this story is that through all their trials, they came to church and showed their faith to God that even though he gives them tests, they are willing to persevere.

I love you all so much! Chao!!

Elder Millard

Week 21 in LaLigua

Hola Hola! I absolutely loved being able to talk you all of you yesterday for Mothers day!! It was so great to be able to talk via Skype! You gotta love technology right? You all look so good! But I feel obliged to say one thing... Thanks alot for turning me into a crybaby haha. At the end there, I was trying to hold in my emotions, but seing all of you cry, I just could not hold it in at the end. Its all good though right? I just love you all so much! It makes me so happy to know that all of you are doing great! Doing amazing things in Otown Utah. You are all getting so old! haha. Now it´s time to focus 110% again.

This week was a great one! I´m loving my time as a trainer. Its really not as hard as I thought it would be. I´ve talked to a lot of other elders that have trained and they said that it was the hardest month and a half of their entire mission. Not the case for me. I have been blessed with a great comp that is willing to learn and work hard. I love seing the progress that the both of us are making. I think i´m learning more than my comp is. Its a completely different world being the one that has to make all of the decisions, lead just about everything... But I love it! I´ve learned to put my trust in the lord. By ourselves, we are incapable, but with the lord, anything is possible.

We have 4 children of God that have baptisimal dates. Nixa, Jorge, Ailin and Marcelo. Its starting to get a little complicated with Nixa and Jorge because the Mom does not want us to come over more than once a week. Not sure why... but we will resolve the problem following the promptings of the spirit. They have had obstacles preventing them from coming to church these last two weeks. We have taught them, focusing on their necesities, explaining the WHY it is important to come to church. Using the scriptures, we have promised blessings specific to thier needs, now it is a trial of their faith to see if they are willing to ATTEND church this week. Its a little different situation with Ailin and Marcelo. They are the kids of Eslatiza, the lady who was baptized at the age of 12 but does not remember too much about the church. She is coming back and we are teaching her kids. This week, we saw a miracle with Ailin. Lately she has been a little rebelious. She hasn´t been reading the Book of Mormon, she has been leaving the lessons to go on the internet... But, on friday, at the end of the lesson, we asked them. "Have you asked God if what we have taught you is true?". She responded, "Yes, but I have not recieved an answer yet." we then asked her, "How do you expect God to answer your prayers?" She didn´t know what to say... Then, using the scriptures, we felt inspired to share Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8. As she finished reading the scripture, her face lit up. She was amazed that all of her doubts were resolved using the scriptures. We have seen a huge change in Ailin ever since this point. Now all she wants to do is go to church, read the scriptures and pray to God. They are progressing towards their baptism for the 28th of May.

So, more about the situation with Scarlet. Her Leukemia has gotten alot worse. She needs an bone marrow transplant as soon as possible or she will be passing on to the other side of the veil. The only one in her family that is compatible is her brother Cristopher. The thing is, her operation will not just be some casual financial speedbump. This will be a financil Mount Everest for the Familia Collao Fres. This operation in specific is Super expensive. They do not have that kind of money. What do you do in this situation? Well, i´ll tell you what they did this week to help show God that they are willing to put their confidence in him. This Sunday, after church, Jessica came up to me and asked me a question. She asked me, with sincerity in her eyes, if I could teach her again how to fill out a tithing slip. They are willing to pay tithing, even through these impossible financial circumstances that they have found themselves in. What faith. What confidence. I think I could say that I have learned more on my mission from the people that surround me, than they have learned from me. I will never forget these life changing experiences that I am having.

I´m sure you are all wondering how things are going with the Pastor Vergara. Well I will tell you. We have been planning a talent show in our church. He is going to invite all of his congregation to participate in it. This will be quite interesting considering that the music is central to their worship. They have a choir, tons of instruments, over 200 songs ready to play. They are pretty legit i must say. Our ward will have to practice a lot to not be humiliated in front of them haha. no, but it will be a great experience to form a bond between the two congregations and begin to plant the seeds so that some day, maybe they will be ready to come to the truth. Pastor Vergara is still reading the Book of Mormon. The situation is moving foreward slowly but surely.

Well I love you all so much! Thanks for all your support and all your prayers.

Hasta luego! Chao

Elder Millard

A new companion

Hola Hola!! As I write this letter, I am totally shivering because it is getting super cold here!! Gotta love it! My fingers are super cold, so I will try to type as fast as I can. The office called me and told me a little bit about the situataion with RJ. He has been in every single one of my prayers, and will continue to be. I know he will pull through, I have faith! Keep me updated. Sheri, congrats on your Senior Prom!!! You are just getting so old! ha. I hope Dad and the brothers in law gave Rob a sufficient scare before he took you out. Lots has happened this week in my life as a missionary: I met my new comp, My child (mi hijito); Primary activity; Situation with Scarlet; Tour experience. Lets get started!

On tuesday, Elder Huamán and I woke up before the break of dawn, at 5:30, to travel down to Viña del Mar. Arriving at the office of the mission, we said our goodbyes, and he was off to his new area Placilla. I then recieved a little capacitation for my new training assingnment. At about 5 o clock, we went to the mission house where all the news just got done with all their capacitations and eating... President told us who our new comps were going to be, then we all went outside, formed a line, and walked to the back yard where our greenies were waiting for us. It was at this moment where we began to sing the mission song with tons of enthusiasm. I could not believe that I am now on the other side of things. It seems like yesterday that i was watching our trainers sing the mission song to us! I thought the day would never come, and now here it is!! My companions name is Elder Colman from Argentina. Hearing his name, I thought he would be a Gringo, but yeah, he´s from Argentina. He is so awesome! He is very humble, which is what I was hoping for, and is super ready to learn and work! I´m really excited to work with him! My goal is to teach him by example. Always be happy and animated, show him how to work hard, work efficiently, be obedient, and teach him what a companionship is (a council). This will be a great change. It will be hard, I will be stretched, but I thank the lord for this opportunity that he has given me to learn, progress, and bless someones life. I hope I can change his life in a good way.

We had a stellar activity with the primary this week! They put on a show, acting the coming of our savior Jesus Christ to the Americas. All of the little childer had their costumes and everything. Guess who they asked to be Jesus?... Yep you guessed it, the tall white gringo. haha. They acted, and showed the movie the Testaments at the same time. During the earthquake, they were all falling everywhere, it was pretty funny. When it was time for the savior to come, I walked out on center stage, took a couple of steps down, and had my hands out to the side. All of the children came to me and touched my hands. It was cool being in the shoes of Christ, to see and feel a glymps of what he saw and felt. The show was a success!

Two days ago, on Saturday, Scarlet was walking around in La Ligua with her family. Then suddenly, she started to have Seizures and became super sick! She was rushed to the hospital, and is still there. I don´t know too much about the situation, but what I know is that Scarlet and her family need your prayers.

One morning, Elder Colman and I had planned to do tours of the church. So we got there, and they were painting and fixing the doors! But that did not stop us, we used the upstairs door on the other side. So, the norm with doing tours of the church is that one in about 50 contact will enter to do a tour with us. The miracle is that the first person that we talked to accepted a tour. The tour was great, she lives in Valparaiso, so we will be giving them a reference. We then go out to the gate to invite more people to do tours with us. The second miracle is that again, the first person that we talked to wanted to do a tour with us. This experience was very special. At the end of the tour, I played the piano and sang "I am a child of God." When the song was over, we asked her how she felt. Her response streangthened my faith. She said, "I have never felt like this before. I have entered in many churches in my lifetime, and none of them have made me feel like this. I feel so much peace and joy, it reaches to the depths of my heart." She was emotional. After this spiritual experience, she was very interested in us visiting her family.

Its mothers day this week!!! I´m super excited to talk to all of you!!!!

Well, that will be all for this week! I love you all and pray for you every day! The church is true!!

Chao! Que les vaya muy bien!

Elder Millard

A new trainer and an awesome family baptism

Hola Hola!!!! I never thought the day would come so fast! The change has officially come to an end. The news is..... I´m.... Staying!! in La Ligua for at least another change! haha. That means that I will be spending at least 1/4th of my mission here. And what a blessing is has been and will continue to be. Happy Birthday to the best Dad in the world!!! Congrats Tiffy and Aaron on Reiman James!!!! He is a beautiful little baby! I also have some news that has to do with babies. I am officially giving birth to a child in the mission!!! The Assistants called me sunday night and I am going to be training this next change!! I am super excited for this new challenging opportunity. The wierd thing is, I still feel Super young in the mission. It seems like yesterday I was in Tierras Blancas being trained by Elder Mace, now here I am on the other side of things. I will do my best and the lord will do the rest.

So this week was quite eventful, I must say. Lets start off with the results of this imfamous meeting with Pastor Vergara and Presidente Gillespie. To review, the purpose of this meeting was to converse over the issue of Pastor Vergara getting bapized to recieve the authority of God and to recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by someone in authority to administer in this ordinance. Lets just say, the spirit did most of the work. In this meeting, the spirit was so strong. We came to the conclusion that this really is a huge decision. He has a congregation, lots of responsibilities and duties. This is not an easy decision. He is doing so much good and helping alot of people. But, President related it to a keyboard. In your church, you have lots of great doctrine and a lot of truth, but not all the truth. Its like having a keyboard with not all the keys. What we have today, thanks to Joseph Smith, is the full gospel, the whole keyboard. He now understands a little bit more the whole picture and has new desires to read the Book of Mormon. Nothing is too sure yet, but with time, he will gain a testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the meantime, we will be planning activites with our branch and his congregation. My new comp and I will be putting together a musical talent show or something in that ballpark. Help show them not just the fullness of the doctrine that the gospel brings, but the culture as well. The temporal and social effects that it has on families.

So this weekend was spectacular. On friday, Sebastián was baptized by his cousin Emilio Gallardo. This baptisimal service was one that I will never forget. The whole family of Sebastián came to see and support him. There were over 100 people there. After the baptism was realized, there came a nice little surprise for Elder Huamán and I. For some background, earlier on this week, we had a fun little activity in the plaza where we had one of the sisters in the branch who is an artist, paint the plan of salvation on a big piece of paper. Because of this, we had a nice big drawing. Since there were so many investigators here, President Palominos exhorted us that we could use this big drawing, take advantage of the situation, and teach the plan of salvation to all the people present. It was intense, but it was super successful! We had everyone interested. Following this improv presentation of the plan of salvation, there was an incredible musical number given by the Gallardo family. I could hear throughout the whole congregation, sniffles, due to the spirituality of the moment. After the service was over, we had a few relatives of Sebastián come up to us and ask us, "what do we have to do to be baptized?" They want us to go visit them. "The field is white all ready to harvest."

The next day, on Saturday, was the next unforgettable experience. After many stumbling blocks, emotional lessons, spiritual experinces, and work, the familia Collao Fres finally entered the waters of baptism. As you all know, members of the branch supported them by dressing up in white. It was a marvelous scene. Everything was perfect. I was trying so hard the whole night to be a man and not cry haha. I try to think of other times in my life where I was as happy as i was this night. They did it. They reached their goal. They recieved their testimonies that they are in the truth. They have hope and faith that through living the gospel, they will be an eternal family. They have their visions set on the temple. They have planned that in 1 year exactly, they will be going to the temple in Santiago, to be sealed for time and all eternity as a family. It is their desire that Elder Huamán and I are there with them. It will be right before I leave! I will thank God forever more for putting this incredible family in our path. I really don´t know if happiness like this exists outside of the gospel.

Well that will be all for this week! I love you all and pray for you often.

Que estén bien! Chao

Elder Millard

Back to Back Baptisms

Hola Hola!!! I cannot believe it, I am officially in the last week of my 6th change as a missionary!! I can´t really believe it but here I am. hah. Time is just flying right by isn´t it. Mom, I love what you said in one of my letters. It made me laugh: "you have been out long enough to have a baby." haha. Yeah, I find it hard to believe myself! Oh, I have to congratulate you Mom and Dad for your Aniversary!!!!!!! Thats so awesome. Thanks for being the best parents ever. I love you so much! The weather is starting to get super cold in the night. Goodbye to short sleeve and hello to long. A lot has happened this week so lets get started.

This week was the make it or break it week for the family of Yessica and Fransisco. We finished up all of the required teaching and they were officially prepared for their baptisimal interview. It made me a little nervous when we taught them the commandment of Tithing. I had been praying so much that they would be able to understand and accept it. My prayer came true. Their faith is so strong that they accepted tithing in a heartbeat. They are truly desirous to have their lives in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They now understand all of the commandments, and are willing to obey all of them. Elder Baker, our district leader, came down from Cabildo to interview them. They all passed their interviews with flying colors!! The baptism will be this week on Sat at 7:30. That would be 4:30 your time. We had the idea of consulting the whole branch to dress up in all white to support the family. It will be an unforgettable scene. Everyone in white, a whole family getting baptized, and the unity of the branch fortified.

I heard something right after the baptisimal interview that made me unexpressibly happy. Cristofer, the 12 year old boy of the family, commented that he now has great desires to serve a mission. He was asking, how can one become a missionary. Can I become a missionary? What do I have to do to prepare to serve a mission?. These questions made me seriously so happy! One of my goals on my mission is to have one of my converts serve a mission. I guess to keep the chain going... We will keep animating him to prepare for this indespensable sacred service.

Sebastián also passed his interview this week. We are super excited for him! The thing is, his whole family is going on a trip on Sat. so he will be getting baptized this friday. Baptisms back to back! haha. Sebastián is such a stud. He is the only member in his direct family. His aunt and uncle and cousins are strong members in the church. Sebastian travels every saturday to spend the night with them so he can assist church. He knows it is true and wants more in life than just drugs, alchohol and crime. We are also trying to animate him to serve a mission.

Pastor Vergara will recieve his interview with Pres Gillespie this wednesday. We will see how it goes!! Some prayers would be helpful.

Well family and friends, I love you all so much and pray for you every day!

Sorry no pix, i´ll have some for next week!

Que estén bien! Chao

Elder Millard

The Pastor accepted baptism

Hola!! Wow, time is just flying by here in La Ligua. Elder Huaman and I only have 2 weeks left! This week was super eventful! So many great things have happened and I have seen SO many changes in our investigators through the power of the Holy Ghost. Oh and thanks so much for all the support and letters! They seriously make my day every time. Tiffy, hang in there, i´m sure he will come this week! Congrats aunt Jenn with the baby blessing. Haha Cristofer, you got me... that was a good one!! Happy birthday Mark this week.

The Pastor accepted baptism: I do not even know where to start with this unbelievable story. Do you all remember the Vergara family. They are evangelicos, the dad is a pastor of a congregation of 100 people, they are super nice, have given us lunch a few times when we did not have any, we found them doing door contacts with a guitar... yes them. Anyways, Elder Huaman and I have been visiting and talking to Pastor Vergara every once in a while. We normally talk about doctrine from the bible. But this was all a plan that Elder Human and I had because we knew we could prove that the church was true with using his own Bible. haha. So this one particular time that we were in his house, the topic of authority and baptism came up. We made him see the importance of having a line of authority that reaches back to Jesus Christ. We also talked about the manner in which you give authority to others which is through the laying on of hands. He realized that he does not have his authority reaching back to Jesus Christ, and that he has not recieved the priesthood or the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by someone holding the proper authority. Pastor Vergara is incredible. He has so much knowlege about the Bible. And with using his own Bible, we helped him see what is truly required to recieve Eternal Life. He told us that he wants to recieve a baptism by someone holding the authority of God!!!! What!! I could not believe what I was hearing. Another testimony of the power of the spirit in this work. This is a true testimony of the promise in Doctrine and Covenants that if we treasure up continually the words of life, they will be given to us in the precise moment when we need them. He is going to have an interview with President Gillespie to see how things will work out.This is not just some simple baptism. It is a complicated situation. He has a congregation to look after. If he leaves, what next for them. Well, i´ll tell you whats next... We will see if we can start working with everyone in his congregation to bring them to the True and Eternal gospel of Jesus Christ.

Water emergency: We have been through alot with the Fres family this week. It first started off with the word of wisdom. They have problems with Coffee and Tea and Fransisco has problems with Alchohol. I will tell you later on in the letter what happened with them concerning this matter. Anyways, after we were done teaching, they said they had something to tell us. They sat us down and said: We will not be able to assist chuch this week. (This was not good because if they did not assist church this week, we would have to push their baptisimal date back.) They continued explaining how they could not pay the water bill these last three months because Scarlet (5 year old) ran out of her medications and they had to spend Tons of money to get here new ones. It was either the water or the health of Scarlet. As good parents, they obviously chose Scarlet. Due to this correct decision, their water was cut. Now they have 0 pesos until next monday. This caused that transport was a problem as well. They did not have any access to water and they said that they could not assist because there was no way that they could get ready, have clean clothes... How terrible is it to not have any water. Well, we assured them to not worry about it, we would do everything possible to help them assist church and have the necesities of water. We left to go find help from the Branch. This really was a great opportunity to show the family that the branch supports them. We ended up collecting over 150 liters of Water in less than an hour. President Palominos and our branch mission leader took the water over to their house. After recieving this service, they were able to have the resources necessary to assist church with us. And they did.

Unforgettable experience: I never thought that I could see anyone change so much. The Fres family had an incredible experience in church. They felt the spririt so strong, that their emotions took control. They felt so much love and support from the Branch. The branch as well has changed so much. It has changed from a branch that is just going to comlete their duty, to a branch that is animated to go and help in the Lords work. Everyone in the branch greeted them, showed them love and made them feel super comfortable. After church, they were expressing to us some of their thoughts. First off, they could not stop telling us how much they loved church. They felt so good. The kids had tons of fun too! they did not want to leave. haha. As they were expressing their thoughts concerning church, they told us that they have a surprise for us. They gave us all their coffee, tea and Alchohol. They gave it up just like that. They said that they want to change completely. Its kinda funny, they said that they are going to even stop buying dark colored drinks like CocaCola and stop eating Mariscos (clams). (The misionaries in this mission are not allowed to Drink Coca Cola or eat Mariscos.) We told them that it was not necessary to stop drinking Coca Cola or eating Mariscos, but they stopped us and said,"no no no, we want to change completely, and be on the path to Eternal Life." They even said that once they get enough money, they are going to save up and buy some skirts, white shirts, and ties to show more respect in church with the way they dress. Everyone in the family is so excited for their baptism. We are planning a White Night the night of their baptism. Meaning, everyone in the branch that assists to their baptism is going to be dressed up in white. It will be an unforgettable scene.

Heart Breaker: Scarlet has not been feeling so good. She has had some unquenchable pain in her legs. Due to the circumstances, we asked if she would like a priesthood blessing, she and her parents said yes. It was explained that through your faith, you can be healed. Scarlet recieved the blessing. That night, she wanted to go to her parent´s room to sleep with them because her legs hurt so bad. She could not withstand the pain. On the way over to her parent´s room, she fell down. Her legs could not hold her little body up anymore. She cried out, why didn´t the priesthood blessing work?? She moved onto her knees and prayed to our Heavenly Father for help. "Father in heaven, Help me." When I heard this, my heart hurt for her. my emotions took over. Scarlet is such an example to me. She told us that after church, she didn´t hurt anymore.

Sebastian will be baptised: So sebastian has officially recieved all the missionary lessons and is ready to be baptised. He will be baptised with the Fres family on the 22nd of April. He has assisted church his whole life. His parents aren´t member but he has been assisting with his aunt and unkle. We are excited for him.

So thats all for this week! I love you all and pray for you every day!

Chao

Elder Millard

Conference and empenadas

Hola Hola!! This week was spectacular! As usual. Our investigators are progressing, time is flying, and Conference was the best!!! I´m writing this right now in a super slow internet café so lets hope this email works haha. Sounds like everything is great back at home! I cannot believe how big my nieces are getting!! And Tiff, hang in there! By the looks of it, I will be getting news of my first nephew in my next weekly letter!! How exciting! Congrats! Oh and congrats to Cristopher as well on his engagement! That is so awesome! Good luck maddi on your election, I know you will do great! You always do! Sherb, Wow, you now have someone to take your place with student body pres next year!! Wow, where has that time gone? Anyways, Thanks so much for all the support, the letters, and pictures! It means the world to have the great support from my family and friends that I am getting. Love you all!

So our investigators are doing great!! I´m going to start off with Antonio. He is progressing slowly but surely. He is super spiritual and is willing to read and come to church... Tho only thing that is holding him back is the Word of Wisdom. That tea gets us every time. It seems like something so small and simple that really would not do very much damage to the human body, but that´s not the point. It is a commandment from a prophet of God, and therefore a commandment directly from God. We will keep working with him. We had to push his baptisimal date back to the 23rd of April and we are praying hard that he will be able to reach this date.

Now for the Fres family (Yessica, Fransisco, Cristofer, Dafne and Scarlet.) I don´t even know where to start. They are just so incredible and we have had some lifechanging experiences with them this week. Fransisco, right when we showed up at their house for the first time did not want anything to do with us. Yet, this same fransicso has been officially touched and changed by the spirit. Now he is the most excited and animated in the whole family. Fransisco has a friend that works for the PDI and is a detective. The detective was over at his house when we came over to visit them. After the visit, the detective started to urge Fransisco not to accept our visits, and started telling him all the "crazy and evil things that the mormon church practices." Fransisco calmly said to him "everything you just told me is exactly opposite of what the elders have been teaching us. I feel something special when they teach us. You should accept their visits sometime, it will change your life." When we heard this we were super happy.

They assisted conference with us and absolutely loved it. We got there a little early so we tok advantage of the situation and gave them a little tour of the church in which we showed them the baptisimal faunt. They are all exited to enter the waters of baptism on the 23rd. They were fairly suprised with how wonderful the conference was. After assisting the suday morning session with us, their testimonies burned with a brighter flame. They left with the knowlege that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. They expressed that they were almost put to tears when he spoke. It was almost as if God himself was speaking to us. They´re eyes are now set on the temple. I don´t know if it was a coincedence or if it was meant to be, but in this session that this family assisted, the subject of cancer was brought up multiple times as a from of problem or difficulty. Yet, in all of those talks, they showed ways of how these dire situations can be comforted by the gospel of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. They expressed to us that they felt identified in that conference.

We had a fun little activity with Fres family. They brought the supplies, we brought the message, and all made empenadas de pino. Oh they were so good! I´ll keep the recipie saved somewhere to be able to make them in 1 year 3 months.

Well thats all folks! Love you all and I pray for you always!

Chao!

Elder Millard