Familia Mia! - June 6, 2016

 

The Hermanas
June 2016

 

Hola hola :)

So I totally forgot my journal like a noob today, but luckily I have a list of things I have to tell you about this week! It was really great! Nice and busy :) And oh man, we only had ONE person juke ALL WEEK. Isn't that incredible? It was amazing. Wow. So here's a few highlights from the week:

On Tuesday we taught Carlos, Carlitos, and Anthony. It was great! Anthony wasn't there the last time we taught, so we asked Carlitos if he would teach Anthony how to pray. He explained it, and Anthony was down to say the opening prayer if Carlitos would say the closing prayer. But they didn't quite understand what we meant.. Anthony opened "dear Heavenly Father... carlitos your turn" and Carlitos was like "thank you for this day... okay your turn" and on it went back and forth. Hahaha Sister Pace and I tried so hard to keep it together!! But it was adorable and really heart-felt, so we just told them when they were saying the closing prayer that usually one person says it.. But we taught about the Plan of Salvation and talked about baptism! They said they're all down to be baptized if they have to to be able to live with God in heaven. But then they said that this summer is going to be really busy for them.. So they might have to wait to get baptized until this fall.. NOOOOO. So we'll see what happens there. But we love them :)

On Thursday, we had dinner with an investigator!! It was awesome! Brenda and Pablo invited us over for enchiladas! But Brenda was still making them when we got there, so she brought out some juice and then turned on the television... And grabbed a movie from the other room... Sister Pace and I looked at each other with panic in our eyes and were like "umm... actually... we can't watch movies..." Hahaha it was a little awkward, but she was totally cool with it! But we spent like all of dinner talking about missionary life. Then they told us about their lives and their work and it was great. I love them a whole lot. They're reading and praying, but we aren't sure if they're really developing testimonies.. But we're able to meet with them pretty often, so we'll keep working with them! 

So we had been meeting with this really sweet lady, Norma, but the last time we saw her she told us she was going up to New York to get some second opinion on some operation because she was really sick. And then we never saw her again. No joke. We called all the time and visited like four times, and the note we wrote the first time was always still in its same place on her door. We thought for sure she died. But SHE CALLED US. Hahaha and the first thing she said was "I'm not dead yet!" And we were SO happy to hear it!! So we'll stop by sometime this week. But it was seriously such a miracle. A phone call from the spirit world.

On Saturday, we LEFT MISSION BOUNDARIES. But don't worry, President Taggart approved the trip :) And it was a matter of like going across the street. Haha! We went down to the Philidelphia mission for some service thing! Our district leader who serves down south invited us to come with and help! We had no idea what we were getting into.. But we drove down and were happy to be there! But we walked in and this guy walked up to Sister Pace and I and was like "hello, I'm going to eat my breakfast tomorrow." And we were like "oh! Good! Breakfast is good!" haha anyway, we ended up serving at some big place for adults who need 24-hour care. Mentally handicapped people live there, as well as some care-taker people and music therapy people. It was awesome! It was this little carnival thing and we worked the game with the mallets that hit a thing and a frog flies into the pond and if it lands on a lily pad you get a Frisbee! Or a hat. Or like five of each, whatever. But it was a really fun way to spend a few hours that afternoon! So many kind people. And they were blasting music, which was pretty tough.. It was like "Boogie Oogie Oogie" and some Stevie Wonder and some Michael Jackson. Oh man it was hard on my heart. But yeah! We got some fried chicken with the elders on the way home and it was great fun! 

And yesterday. Check it out. Last night we tried to see this guy Ramon at like 6, but he wasn't there. After going a couple other places and knocking some doors only to find rejection, we prayed to know if we should try to find Ramon again or go to another street to knock (it was about 8 at this point, we had an hour of work left). As we were praying, I got the impression that we should go see Ramon. So we went back to his house, but he STILL wasn't there. I was a little frustrated because I felt like I had actually received a spiritual prompting to go back to his house, and it didn't end up working out. So I prayed that the Lord would help me understand. But we decided to knock around his house. We walked across the street a little ways and saw a house with this grill out front that was smoking like crazy! It did not look safe! Haha but we knocked and found Juana! She said she didn't have time to watch a little video about Jesus with us because her family was all eating inside, but we got a return appointment for Saturday. We asked her what she was cooking, and she walked us over to the grill to show us! It looked and smelled AWESOME. And before we knew it, she'd invited us in for tacos! Haha so we walked in through their living room, and someone was watching a soccer game. We stopped to ask who was playing, said "woo go Mexico!!" and walked into the kitchen. There were like four people sitting at a table and like five kids running everywhere, and Juana brought chairs to the table for us! We got some meat, rice, and tortillas, and oh man. That meat. It was SO GOOD. There was also some cactus and some weird seed thing we ate. Haha the food was awesome! But the best part about it was that no one even second-guessed us being there. Her whole family was totally chill with a couple white chicks joining them for tacos! It was too funny. We talked a little bit about what we do as missionaries, gave them a pamphlet, and said we would be back Saturday! We were so bummed we hit curfew, we could have stayed and had an entire lesson with them so easily. Haha it was so awesome!! Such a miracle. The Lord is definitely looking out for us :) 

It's been a really awesome week! Nice and busy and productive. Sorry I don't really have any pictures to send home.. But I love you all and I think of you and pray for you all the time :)

All my love!
Hermana Millington

"wait but if we live on the sun... wouldn't we die again?" - May 30, 2016

Teaching the plan of salvation

no caption needed :)

 

 

 

Hey family! This week was GREAT! 

 

 So many good things this week! The work is definitely picking up in our area and it's super awesome! I'm a busy, happy missionary! :)

We finally had a lesson with Leticia, who we've been trying to get a lesson with forever! She's super awesome. She was going to get married in August, but they've just pushed the date back a year... But it's okay! She's reading from the Book of Mormon and super down to keep meeting with us! The only bummer is that she can only meet on Tuesdays.. So we can only see her once a week.. But I have faith! 

We also had a mini-lesson with Carlos and Carlitos! We had them scheduled at 7, but we were bad missionaries and our lesson before went long, so we ended up getting there a little late. Carlos said we were too late, Anthony had already left and Carlitos was in the shower. But after some coercion he let us share a scripture with him on his front porch! We tried to get him to pray before we left, but he wouldn't!! That punk. He kept saying that he wants us to teach Carlos and Anthony, but he's going to die soon anyway, so it doesn't matter what he learns. Which is NOT TRUE. So we'll be trying to bring some members to that appointment tomorrow to help us convince him that this is for him, too! But he's doing all the reading with Carlitos and is present and paying attention during the lessons, so I've got faith. They're a cute little family. But because we were late, we owe them cookies tomorrow.. So that's what we'll be doing tonight! :) 

On Wednesday, I ATE A CRABBY PATTY. It's true. It was delicious. It wasn't the same recipe that SpongeBob uses (there weren't any pickles, for one thing), but it was still way good! Anyway, thought you'd appreciate that :) We also had a lesson with Maria and Antonio, which was a little tough. Maria was telling us how she wants to be "touched by the Spirit." She told us about her experience gong to the Pentecostal church where they have a pastor that supposedly touches your forehead and you fall to the ground because he's touched you with the Spirit... So we did our best to explain that it usually is felt through quite feelings of peace, comfort, love, etc. Anyway, we aren't sure exactly what we can do to help them. They're a sweet couple and they're having a lot of health problems right now. We met with them again on Friday and as Antonio was saying the closing prayer he burst into tears. We didn't quite know what to say, but luckily we had a member there who helped reassure him that God performs miracles for us all the time. We just have to trust in Him and one way or another, everything will be okay. We were glad to have her there with us for sure. Anyway, pray for Antonio! 

The Vega family is doing AWESOME. We finally figured out what's keeping them from coming to church and we're going to try to help them overcome that. They like the doctrine and they think the Book of Mormon is true, they're just a little bit afraid about the church experience in general. We thought they might make it to church this week, but they said they'll for sure come June 12. Haha it's a little way out, but that's when Jesse doesn't have to work on Sunday, so they can all come together! So we're praying that they come through for us this time and they have a good experience. I think that's all they need. And I think they know that, too. I love that little family :) 

Oh man. I had the greatest little exchange with this lady on Saturday. So the English ward had a BBQ that they invited our branch to, so we were there helping out. The English sisters are teaching a sweet lady right now named Dorothy, who had brought her friend to the activity! Super awesome! I didn't know that yet, though, and I saw this lady walking past me in a tie-die tank top and a cross necklace. I said hi, and she crossed herself (ya know, the little head, chest, shoulders thing), said "hey, sister," and fist-bumped me. No joke. I could not stop laughing. Hahahaha oh man, it was golden. And then she was walking around a little later singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" to herself. Oh man, she was awesome. No fear. Anyway, hopefully the sisters can get a hold of her too, she seemed super awesome :)

Oh Saturday we had an interesting experience doing our nightly planning... Haha I sent mom the video! We got super distracted by this beetle that we named Franklin and decided was our pet. He's living among the pamphlets now. We also found this crazy hole in the floor!! There's light down there! We also saw a hose and some bricks down there.. So there's probably like hobos living in our basement. It's cool. Hahaha

Yesterday was crazy! Church was good, and we had all our studies that afternoon, but BOTH our lessons that night fell through :( Boooo. But we were knocking on Mina's door to see her, and her son said she was still at work.. We went to walk back home and get our car and come back in like 20 minutes, and we passed this little group of girls playing with the CUTEST little Yorkie!! One of them said hi to us, so we walked over and started talking to them! There were like 7 little girls ages 6-11ish, and they were so darling! We left and got our car, and drove back to see if Mina would be there. She wasn't (boo), but the girls were still there! So we told them more about how we teach about Jesus Christ, and we asked them if they knew who he was. One little girl had a faint idea, but the others weren't quite sure. Then this one girl, totally randomly, was like "I'm just so afraid to die! I don't want to die! I don't know what happens after I die, I don't want to!" Haha it was so awesome!! So we said that God has a plan for us and we don't have to worry! We'd been carrying around chalk in our trunk forEVER waiting for the perfect opportunity to draw with some kids, and here it was! So we gave them all chalk and we drew the Plan of Salvation with them!! There were like 11 kids drawing with us! They had a couple good questions, one of which was "wait, if we live on the sun, aren't we just going to die again?" Haha symbolism. Anyway, it was super great. And we talked about how as long as we make good choices in this life we'll be happy with God forever in the next life :) They were so cute! They asked if we could come back and teach them more!! So we're going over tonight, and hopefully we'll have another bomb lesson with las ninas. We're going to make sure we've got the permission of the parents and everything, and hopefully we can get into a couple homes to teach families! It was such a miracle. Such a great way to end the week.

Today's been good so far! We got everything done we needed to, and we actually even got to go to the boardwalk with the STL's here!! It was fun!We  Haha I'll send some to mom in a little bit :) Then we got some pizza!! Some of my first Jersey Pizza! Woo! It was super yummy. I love pizza. 

Anyway, life is so good :) Things are really picking up here! We'll work on getting some people on date this week. I have lots of faith and lots of hope:) Transfers are June 14th, and Sister Pace will probably be leaving me. I'm feeling a little nervous about that... But I know it'll be okay. I'll be able to lead out the area and hold things together with the Lord's help :)

I love you all!! You're in my thoughts and prayers, siempre!!

Con todo el amor en mi corazon,

Hermana Millington

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WOW! SO MANY THINGS! - May 23, 2016

Temple trip!!!

This week was CRAZY!! So many awesome things happened!! I'll do this one in a day-to-day format, or I'll lose my place.. So here's what happened :)

Monday: It was a pretty normal P-day! We learned how to make salsa with Hermana Salazar, though, and that was way fun! We also saw Jesse and Maria Vega when we were walking around High Point and talked to them for a while. We love them :)

Tuesday: today we went on exchange with the Sister Training Leaders! Sister Wood and I took our area in Spanish, but she doesn't speak any Spanish.. Haha we got juked for almost all our lessons, but we still had a great day! This is her first time being an STL, but she's been out for like 15 months and is a great missionary. I love her a lot.  We had an awesome Spanglish lesson with Carlos and Carlitos this day! It was so awesome! They'd done their Book of Mormon reading and we talked about all of the restoration! Carlos had lots of good questions. At one point we were talking about prayer and how we can know these things are true, and he said he had a question. This was it, word-for-word: "so one time I was at my grandma's house that lives like an hour away and they were all there and they were standing in a circle holding hands and they were all quiet except for one who was screaming cause she was talking to God.".... and we were like "so, what was your question?" and he said "yeah that was my question." Hahaha so we explained how we do prayer a little differently, a little more reverently. And then we asked him to say the closing prayer for us, and it was so cute! He's about ten years old, and I think this was his first time really praying, at least out loud. He kept saying "we bless you that..." instead of like "we thank you.." It was so cute. Carlos works all the time, though, so we can really only go see them Tuesday afternoons.. But we're going over tomorrow to teach the Plan of Salvation and I have high hopes for them!! 

Wednesday: Today we had interviews with President Taggart! This was my first time doing this. It was really cool! We went up to Eatontown (about an hour north) and received some training from the AP's, as well as a little chat with Sister Taggart and the other sisters in our zone. In my interview with the President we talked about things that are going well and things that I'm trying to improve. There are lots! But we talked about how I need to focus on the things I CAN control, and let the Lord work with the rest. I can control how many people I talk to, I can control how well I use the phone to make appointments, I can control lots of things! So I need to recognize them and do my best at them, and then not worry too much about the things outside my control. That creates extra stress I just don't need :) I also got my iPad today! Woo!!  Our miracle today was that we didn't get juked!!! That was the first time that's happened my whole mission!! We had two member-present lessons, too! It was awesome. We saw Argentina with Sister Regus, and the Vegas. We had dinner scheduled with Eriberta Esteban, and she invited her not-member sister-in-law to come eat with us! It was awesome! And in our lesson with the Vega's Maria said she totally knows our message is true! She knows the Book of Mormon is true. We've just got to get her to take some action now :) 

Thursday: Today was AWESOME. We woke up a little early and headed up to Newark with the STL's for our temple trip! When we got there, we rode the train into New York. On the train I sat next to this guy named Doug, who's a drummer! He works in sales for some music label in New York City. Pretty rad, right? We talked a lot about what we do as missionaries and how we help people find Christ. He was happy to hear that there are people here helping people learn the word of God, he seemed to think everyone in New Jersey is Atheist. Hahaha. When we got to Penn Station, we hopped on a subway to the Lincoln center. When we walked up to the street, the temple was right there!! It was so cool!! It was amazing to see it right in the middle of things! There were broadway show signs all over, people walking everywhere, and someone selling flowers across the street. It was lovely! Going into the temple was a cool experience. It was amazing to see the real difference between the world outside the temple and the world inside it. There was an amazing calm, peace, and quiet as we entered the temple. It was so clean and pure, so different from the subway under New York City. After taking pictures after and everything, we ended up late to the train station, which meant we missed our train.. That was a little bit stressful, but we ended up just having to wait for like 40 minutes for the next one! It was okay! So we got some Auntie Anne's pretzels and hung out there. On the train back to Newark I sat next to a girl, Teressa, who reminded me a lot of Katherine! She was awesome. Super nice girl, probably in her late twenties. She's just about to start an internship in New York City and just graduated from law school. She's interested in international business and seems super smart! It was cool to talk with her. Back in Newark, we went to lunch as a zone. We drove through the city (which was totally crazy) to Elm Street Barbeque. There they have like 5 choices of meat, all of which comes with fries and rice. And that's it. Hahaha dad, if you're in Newark you have to check it out sometime! Some of the best ribs and chicken I've ever had. Seriously amazing. As we backed out of the tiny parking garage, Sister Pace may or may not have slightly bumped our District Leader, Elder Rajakhumar with her car.. Haha oops. But everyone's okay! No worries! On the drive back we did a 25 question get-to-know-you-thing with the other sisters and that was fun! We learned lots about each other :) Also today we got a text from a referral we'd been trying to get in contact with.. His name is David and he's like 16. He finally got back to us in a message that said "Hello sorry weve been really busy and we have a lot going on so we won't be able to join your church so sorry for wasting your time" hahahaha oh David. It's okay. It's just your eternal salvation. 

Friday: Today I earned my pillow :) We had a lunch appointment with the Guerra's who live pretty far south. They have another guy living with them, Max, who isn't super active, but has a bien fuerte testimony. When we got there, Max had invited his friend, Ryan, to have lunch with us! It was way interesting, because Ryan doesn't speak any Spanish.. But the Guerra's don't speak a lot of english.. hahah but it was great! We had some good Mexican and Cuban food and a little lesson about prayer. Ryan said he's way down to come have lunch and a little lesson with us again! He was a cool guy. We visited Gerardo down south too, and that was great! He didn't have a ton of time to meet with us, but things are going well for him! They gave us sweet potato fries and warm syrup like they always do :) We love them there at that restaurant! We had a lesson with the Vegas that went well! We didn't have a ton of time to meet with them, but we talked about sacrifice. It went over well and I know they're progressing! Yay! We then sped over to Maria and Antonios and that was awesome! They're a couple that the elders found a few weeks ago that have known a lot of missionaries in the past, but are still investigating. AND GUYS. THEY HAVE CHICKENS. So I pretty much have to baptize them now. Haha but they're awesome! And their son-in-law, Jimmy, was there and had lots of great questions! We talked about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and I think we can really get somewhere with them. I think getting the branch involved will be the key there. And hopefully one of these weeks I'll have a picture with their chickens to send home. We met with the Saavedra's tonight too, and talked about Lucy's baptism! They were so excited :) We love their family!! Anyway, today was an awesome day. I went to bed nice and tired :) 

Saturday: I felt sufficiently tired today too!! We had our english class in the morning, and then went to a potential investigator's house. We were pleasantly surprised, she was actually there and expecting us!! And her husband was there and expecting us too! So we sat down with Adellia and Juan and talked about the restoration a little bit. We talked about what we do as missionaries and he told us all about how awesome Mexico is. Haha but it was great! They said they'd read and we set an appointment to come back next Saturday! So fingers crossed for them! They're pretty Catholic, but they're open to talking with us and learning more! Another great surprise today was our lunch! We were going to go to some sandwich place, but Raul (our GPS) took us to some little deli and grocery store thing.. But we got some AWESOME sandwiches! And then we got Rita's next door! And good news, the Rita's was "under kosher supervision by Rabbi Yoffe." Oh Lakewood. We did a lot of things at the church to get ready for Lucy's baptism and it was awesome! We then had a little FHE with the branch at Hermana Laura's house! We didn't have too great of a turn-out, but it was alright! Sister Pace and I shared a little message about the temple and families and we ate LOTS of food. And, bless their hearts, they gave us a TON to take home! Seriously, we could feed the whole district for days on the food they gave us! But we're having a district cook-off tomorrow, so we might bring some rice from that.. Haha so much rice. But way good guacamole too! Anyway, it was fun! We then went over to another potential's house and were pleasantly surprised there! We'd seen them a few weeks before, but didn't really know if anything was going to happen with them.. But they totally randomly texted us on like Thursday and said they'd read the pamphlet we'd left and wanted to talk with us and learn more! We were a little nervous going into it because we didn't know if they'd studied some things online about us too (and you never know how that ends up), but it turned out really well! They were super open to hearing the message and invited us back! Super nice little couple. 

Sunday: This day was great!! We went to church and everything was good, and we went into Young Women's the second hour to help with the lesson about patriarchal blessings! It gave me a cool opportunity to study mine that morning and remember how cool those are. After we took the sacrament, we started getting everything ready for the baptism right after church. We went to fill the font, and HOLY SPIDERS. There were like eight HUGE nasty spiders down there :( Haha that's what we get for not having any baptisms recently!! But our branch mission leader was kind enough to come kill them for us :) We got everything all prepared and ready in time, and the baptism turned out to be awesome! Her sister, Maggie, played the violin and her parents both spoke on baptism and the Holy Ghost. President Judson baptized her and Brother Regus confirmed her. She is so darling, she was totally glowing. It was such a happy day for their family :) and like we do, we had TONS of food after! It was great! And they gave us more food to take home.. oh man.. Haha but we love our little branch :) We had dinner with the senior couple here, the Ross', and the other sisters and that was lovely! Then we set out on a people hunt for Ramon and Hermano Esparza, and both of them were home! Miracles! So we had little lessons with them and set some return appointments, which was great! 

Today has been a good day so far! Some lady at wal-mart asked if we had multiple husbands.. But other than that it's been pretty uneventful :) We got some sweet New Jersey shirts though! And some awesome skirts! 

Some other random things from this week you might enjoy:

-lots of "honk for trump" signs on the side of the road. hahaha 

-we drove past a place called Muscle Maker Grill. Seth would probably like that.

-a collection of bumper stickers saying "RIP King of Pop" and different pictures of Michael Jackson. Hahaha

Anyway, life is good, folks! I'm a happy missionary :) I'm not perfect, but that's what the Atonement is for! The Lord is surely blessing us. We're happy today for sure :) 

I love you and think about you all the time!! Have a fun party tonight, take lots of pictures of everything and send them all to me! 

Les quiero con todo mi corazon!

Hermana Millington

"Wait... You're not Catholic?" - May 16, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

Salsa lesson

Hola familia hermosa! Como estan todos? :) I hope everything is going well back on the home front! It sounds like it's going to be a crazy week getting ready for Sether's parties and everything! Congrats, Sether! Y'all should make a banner that says that. Or "Good work, Sether Bob." Something inspiring. Speaking of, I found some inspiring scriptures today and thought of you guys. This is in 2 Nephi 24:29 "for our of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." So there you have it. 

This week was a good one! Unfortunately I left my journal in our apartment, but I have a little notebook with a few important things I wanted to remember to write about! First of all, I love you guys. You're awesome. I pray about you all the time and I know the Lord is taking good care of you :) 

Second, I got Sether's announcement! It's so darn cute :) All his flowy locks, what a beautiful young man.

So this is a pretty funny story from just yesterday. We were in branch council before church, and Hermano Ledezma (the branch mission leader) walked in with a friend! We hadn't ever seen him before so he wasn't really an investigator, but he definitely wasn't a member and we were super excited! So we had branch council and then they came with us to gospel principles. While we were there, we talked all about faith in Jesus Christ. We read out of the book and talked about the scriptures and it was all good. After we finished, we still had a few minutes, so we started getting to know this guy a little bit. He hadn't said anything throughout class, so we were curious what his story was. So he said his name was Nosario and that Hermano Ledezma had invited him to come to church today. But he was all confused because we didn't have any statues of Mary or Guadalupe anywhere (Guadalupe is some saint lady from Mexico that everyone loves). We said no, we don't have any of those, we just worship God! And he was all "...Wait... You're not Catholic..?" HAHAHA wow all the awkward. We said no, we're the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Anyway, we talked about why we don't worship images or idols, and he wasn't too happy about it.. Poor guy had no idea we were Mormons until he'd been there for two hours. Hahaha but hey, major props to Hermano Ledezma for trying to hard to get someone to church!! He's great :)

We went over to President Judson's house yesterday (or "The Judson Mansion") , and talked about a branch mission plan. We've got some good goals that we're all excited about, so now we just have to get them out there to the branch! I think it'll be good. But we finished talking about it and I asked if there was anything we could do to help their family. President Judson was like "Well, we've got this dead bird out by our pool..." And Sister Pace was like "Awesome! Let's go clean it up!!" Hahaha and you all know how I am with dead things!! But she walked right over and scooped that poor, dead thing up with some pool scoop thing and put it in the trash. Haha we don't joke around about service. 

So y'all know how I did that one awesome Book of Mormon about the attributes of Christ? It's awesome. I'll probably send it home before I come home. But I'm working on another one now, I'm in about 2 Nephi 26. I'm reading and looking specifically for verses about the Atonement and grace, and I'm bolding all the times it says Christ's name (like "Holy One of Israel," "The Lamb of God," "The Lord," etc.). It's SO AWESOME. Wow. You guys need to do this project too. But that's how I found my super inspiring scriptures I wrote above! But this morning I found a chapter amidst all the crazy Isaiah chapters (see 2 Nephi 20:28-31) that makes a lot of sense. It's Chapter 22, where he's talking about how every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Christ when He comes again. It's only five verses, but it's really beautiful. I love how it talks about singing to the Lord, because I love to sing! We sing in homes before we start lessons sometimes, and it always helps to bring the Spirit. Music is so powerful. 

Also this last Monday I learned how to make tortillas with Hermana Gloria! It was so awesome! I discovered how bad I am at making tortillas. But they were delicious, and I have a new resolve to learn how to cook like a Mexican. Today we're going over and she's going to teach us how to make salsa! I love that lady. 

Anyways, sorry I don't have more to write because I don't have my journal with me! But it was a lovely week indeed :) And this week is going to be crazy! We have exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders tomorrow/Wednesday, interviews with President Taggart Wednesday, and a temple trip (AAAAAAAH SO EXCITED) on Thursday! It's gonna be a good one for sure :) 

Okay you guys are the best! Keep on keepin' on, and don't let dad get too crazy with that new chainsaw ;) 

amor amor amor,

Hermana Millington

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Day after the BEST Mother's Day EVER - May 9, 2016

 

 

Best Mother's Day gift EVER!!
(Matt was on the speaker phone with us)
May 2016

 

 

Well, you sillies, I don't really have a lot to say! I feel like I said it all yesterday and not much happened this week anyway!! Haha but it was a good one :)

I don't have too many great stories from this week, but the highlight was definitely skyping y'all yesterday! What a blessing. I don't even know how to put into words how happy it made me!! And thank you for giving me the opportunity to have a family prayer in spanish with you. My Spanish wasn't perfect, but I hope you felt my love and the love of our Heavenly Father. I definitely did. I could have talked to you forever and ever, I had so many things to say and so many things to ask! But good news: in 15 short months, we'll be able to talk FOREVER. I don't worry to much about you guys, I know you're in the Lord's hands. And we've got eternity to be together, so I'm happy to be away for a little while on the Lord's errand. Missionary life is the best life. Fully of day-old tamales and smelly shoes :) 

There was one awesome lesson we had with a sweet sister, Mina, this week. It was on Tuesday. This was the first time meeting with her, but we decided to talk about the  Plan of Salvation! We were teaching and everything was great, but she was being a little shy. She's never studied the Bible, but her parents were Catholic. So she believes in Christ and everything, but didn't really have answers to any of our questions (who is Christ to you? What do you think the purpose of life is? etc.). Anyway, we helped her out and taught and it was awesome. And I don't remember how we started talking about it, but we were talking about how the only way to know something is true is through the Spirit. We were explaining the fruits of the spirit (peace, joy, love, etc.), but how it's kind of hard to describe, but really real. And she was like "yeah, like right now!!" YES!! So we confirmed that it was the Spirit that was helping her feel "tranquilidad" and everything. It was so awesome. And she was really excited about reading the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet we left with her so she could know more and answer our questions better next time. So hopefully we'll go back and see her soon, I think we have an appointment set for sometime the next couple days! 

So the branch Mother's Day party was awesome yesterday!! I love our darling branch. Oscar "played guitar" (just strumming without any real chords..) and they sang this Spanish song that I guess is like "Happy Birthday" for us! It was a wreck, it was so funny!! And then Oscar tried to kiss me. That was really something. Haha it was so embarrassing, but I'm not sure who all from the branch saw.. Anyway, good stuff. What a funny little branch we have :)

But other than that, life just keeps on keepin' on! We have a new sister here, Sister Wood, and a new Elder, Elder Nickerl. They both seem super cool so far, I think they'll do great things for the English ward here. We were going to go to the beach today, but we kind of ran out of time.. So I think we'll go next week! Hopefully the weather stays nice and it can be good for us! I heard the best Jersey Pizza can be found at the beach. And I haven't had any real Jersey pizza yet.. But I will!! 

Anywayzzzzz, yeah. That's all. I just talked to you guys yesterday :) I love you sillies!! 

Hermana Millington

Bird Dropping - May 2, 2016

Note from Mamma Millington:

Lexi's  subject line for this note --So a bird Pooped on my head

 

I've discovered what it means to be a missionary. It means being pooped on and forgetting until you shower the next morning. #focused

Okay so this week! Man, time flies when you're having fun! It feels like I was just sitting here telling you about all the crazy things that happened last week. This week was pretty eventful too, we had some of the strangest lessons I've had so far! 

So we met with Israel! He was the one that texted us and said he wanted us to teach him the word of God. We went and knocked on his door and after waiting a minute, he walked up behind us from the street and invited us to sit on some couches on his front porch. And OH MAN. He was intoxicated. I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with drunk people, but wow. We could totally smell it on him. And oh man, Spanish is hard enough when the person speaking is sober! Needless to say, it was an interesting lesson. He started out by asking us about the apocalypse and the giant animals that are going to take over the world.. We weren't quite sure what to say except that we don't know a lot about the apocalypse, but we do know that Jesus Christ will come again! Then we tried to get through the Plan of Salvation. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but he ended up quizzing us on the ten commandments.. Haha luckily we've got them all down! Then he randomly asked us if he could find a woman in our church because his woman had just left him.. We told him we weren't sure. Wow. Anyway, he finally ended up telling us that he was super drunk (surprise) and I told him that it was ineffective for us to try to teach him when he couldn't think straight or make any sense. I even said "you can't feel the love of God when you're not making any sense." Hahaha oh man, I've got a lot to learn as a missionary and as a Spanish speaker. But it's true! When you're way drunk you can't do anything! And I'm not sure how this one happened either, but he suddenly started launching into this dream of his to have a son. He started crying and talking about how he wants to watch his son walk and when he falls, he wants to pick him up and give him a hug.. It was way awkward because tears were just streaming down his face and we didn't know what to say! But we told him that we would love to come back and talk to him more about the word of God when he can think straight.. Wow, it was something else for sure. We haven't seen him since, but we're trying to stay in touch with him and hopefully sober Israel wants to hear the word of God too! Hahaha. Good times good times.

Also I forgot to mention something last week! On our way up to the fireside in Eatontown on Sunday we saw some Jews on wave-riders in this little pond in the middle of Lakewood. And they were still in their church clothes!! Oh man. I've gotten so used to seeing yamikas and suits all over the place, it's not even weird. Also the stereotype about Jews being bad drivers is SO true. Oh Lakewood. Also we had transfer calls last night and SURPRISE! Sister Pace and I are staying right here :) but I know one of our elders is leaving, one of our sister training leaders is leaving, and our zone leader is leaving too. So things will be different around here! But I'm glad to have another six weeks here and another six weeks with Sister Pace as my trainer. 

So I've been working on some family history stuff that's pretty sweet! I was working on finding more documents for Washington Lemmon. What a good guy. The lady who does the Family History Center here (Sister La'Faund... I don't know if that's how you spell it, but I'm just now realizing how similar it is to La-fawn-duh. but these ladies couldn't be more different. Hahahaha) is way serious about family history. She tells me every time that this is the most important work we can do because this is the book we will present to the Lord. So y'all back home better get working on your family history work too! Don't get struck down! 

We had a couple interesting adventures on Thursday to find wifi, including walking to a Dunkin' Donuts and walking to a Panera! We got some good food, but we didn't eat healthy at ALL that day. We also tried to walk to a less-actives house and see her because we've been trying to call her for weeks and haven't gotten an answer. But we still didn't find her. Honestly we aren't sure if she's still alive.. She might be in New York at the doctor still. Anyway, crazy stuff. We're praying for her. BUT good news! SERGIO IS ALIVE!! We haven't seen him in weeks, but our relief society president told us yesterday that she got a hold of him and he should be returning back to his home today! So we'll keep calling him and hopefully be able to go see him soon! Another recent convert of ours was lost for a while, but now is found! He was blind, and now he sees. Haha jk, but he did break his leg and his phone. So that was a bummer! But he's improving and he should be getting a new phone tomorrow, so all is well there too :)

So the day I got pooped on. That was Saturday. We'd had our ESL class at the library that morning and then got some KFC for lunch (thanks, dad! :)) and then we were doing some studies at High Point. We got out and walked around for a while, and then I felt something fall on my head.. But it was a little bit of a cloudy day (a cloudy week, actually) so I didn't think anything of it.. Then we got in the car a little later and I went up to fix my hair and there was totally poop right there on my head. Hahaha I literally started laughing and crying and falling apart. It had been a little bit of a stressful day and that was my breaking point. But I pulled myself together right quick, and honestly Sister Pace could not have cared any less about the poop in my hair. I thought it was really awful and really hilarious, and she just didn't care. BUT! I thought you all would appreciate it:) Especially you, sether. And like I said, I kind of forgot about it until the next morning right before I got in the shower. Haha but now my hair is nice and clean :) Hopefully no one saw it... 

So another great story from this week. This was just on Saturday! When I was with Sister Baine a couple weeks ago, she had met someone named Ana that lived on Walnut, super close to our apartments. But she spoke Spanish, so she was going to introduce me and then have me come back with Sister Pace to teach her in Spanish. But when we knocked a couple weeks ago, this man answered the door and said she lived in the basement, but didn't get off work until like 8 at night, but that we could come back another day to find her. So Sister Pace and I had knocked this house like three times since, and finally on Saturday someone else answered the door! He said Ana did live there, but he wasn't sure if she was home. He invited us to walk around back, into the garage, and down the stairs to the basement door to see if she was there.. We had knocked so many times, we thought "why not?" and headed on back. The glass in the door to the garage was broken, and the garage itself was dark and pretty sketchy.. But we walked down this little stairwell and knocked on the door.. This guy answered who looked like he was about our age, and said she was here and he'd go find her. He walked away, and shortly there-after walked back and was like "umm.. who are you guys?" Haha so we said we were missionaries! So he went back, and then returned and said she was in the shower! I was like "oh that's okay--" and I was going to say we could come back another day, but Sister Pace blurted out "That's okay, we can wait!!" and oh man. The next five minutes we spent standing in that stairwell were so funny. Neither of us had any idea why she'd said that or what we were doing there!! But we laughed and laughed (as quiet as we could, the door was still open). Anyway, then Ana came. She looked about our age and her hair was all wet. We apologized for interrupting her shower and introduced ourselves. Long story short, she'd never met with any missionaries and didn't have a clue what the Mormon church was. Hahaha we don't think it was the right Ana. But she asked us what we believe (the golden question!) and Sister Pace gave a quick summary of the Restoration. We showed a video and asked if she'd be interested in meeting with us. She was like "umm.. what? To talk about God?" And we were like "Yeah, totally!!" And she was like "ummm nah, I'm good..." Anyway. Super awkward. And then she followed us up the stairs of the garage and locked the door behind us. Man, Heavenly Father knew we needed something to laugh about and was kind enough to give us a super awkward encounter with Ana :) Such good stuff!!

Anyway, other than that, we had some good lessons this week! We met with almost all our investigators (still working on that appointment with Sergio), met with some new investigators that were awesome and all kinds of fun stuff! I also did a musical number at a zone meeting with like 3 hours notice.. So happy I have some music :) I sang "The One" and I think it went well! I dunno. I was playing on a keyboard, which is never as great as a real piano.. But it reminded me of singing around the piano Sunday night with all you chickens and that made me happy :) 

Also I finished the Book of Mormon on Wednesday! Oh man, I love that book. I was reading it and highlighting examples of Christ-like attributes, and my book is SO colorful! I'm way excited to start another one. I think this time I'll focus on the Atonement and grace. I hope to end up having shelves and shelves of Books of Mormon with all kinds of topics highlighted :) 

I really learned so much from reading it this time through, though. I understand the story SO much better. There are amazing examples of faith and charity and obedience and everything in there! I would 100% encourage you all to read the Book of Mormon. That's pretty much all I do as a missionary: read the Book of Mormon and tell other people to. And also get pooped on. But anyway! Seriously. I love that book so much. It was written by REAL people for us! And Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God so we could have another testament of Jesus Christ. So we can grow to understand and love him more. I'm so thankful that we have the Book of Mormon, I know it's true. I've prayed about it and I felt the peace and love of the Holy Ghost every time I read it. It's a beautiful, powerful book. 

The other day I woke up and was feeling a little un-motivated and unsure what to study, so I said a little prayer and opened up randomly to Alma 57:27. I love what is says about the Army of Helaman having "firm minds." That kicked me into gear for sure! I wrote down the ways I can be of a firmer mind and a stronger heart as a missionary. Do not fret, I'm not getting discouraged, it was just 6:30 in the morning and I wasn't sure what to read :) 

Anyway, life is so good out here! It's not always easy, but I came to realize a little more this week that as long as I'm doing everything I can, the Lord will take care of the rest. This is in His hands--this is His work! I don't need to worry unnecessarily. Extra stress is NOT what will help me be a better missionary. Rather, tuning into the Spirit and doing my best to follow the promptings I receive. Doing my best to look outside myself and open my mouth. Doing my best to love EVERYONE and tell everyone the good news that we have: because of Jesus Christ, we can overcome all the heart-ache and guilt and sorrow that we will experience in this life. Having difficulties is part of God's plan for us, but He gives us them because He wants us to turn to Him. He knows we're stubborn and prideful and we need something to knock us down before we'll turn to Him sometimes. He's just so good. 

I love you, family! You're in my prayers always! 

Hermana Milberton  

Meeting Israel and "Prayers of A Wounded Warrior" - April 25, 2016

April 2016

So I saw some more chickens this week, but they weren't crossing the road..

Oh man, this week was CRAZY loco. I don't even know where to begin! But yo, it was awesome. So many miracles. I'm not exactly sure where to start with all of it, but I have my journal right here so I'll just do a little day-by-day and add some other things at the end probably :)

So Monday:

After emails here at the church the other missionaries (our STL's and the Spanglish Elders) and us tossed a football around in the parking lot for funsies. We then went to an appointment with the Saavedras, which was so lovely. Their daughter, Maggie, was baptized over a year ago, but the parents were baptized last December! Super sweet family. So we had some dinner and then we had a cute little lesson about the temple and doing family history. They ended up coming to the Family History Center on Wednesday when we were there and got some names to take on the branch temple trip last Saturday for their FIRST time!! It was so cool. We love them. Then after some  contemplating and prayer, we went out knocking doors in their apartment complex, High Point. We had a couple other lessons that went well! The Lord surely blessed us with happy hearts. 

Tuesday:
Haha I have written in my journal "I surely earned my pillow today." Both our appointments this day cancelled, so after a great district meeting we spent like four hours knocking doors! Because we don't have a lot of miles left for the month (thank goodness the month is almost over), we had to just go to one place and walk around there. But it was good! We had some great little door-step lessons with some really nice people!  After that, we did some comp study outside in the middle of High Point and that was lovely! That's a crazy place. People just drive through the complex all over the sidewalks and kids jump curbs on their bikes and stuff. It's so much fun! We then got a ride to the church with Gloria (our branch music coordinator) and we practiced some hymns with her because she wants to learn them better. She's the BEST. She's recently re-activated and she's on FIRE! She's going up to girls camp this summer and she went to the temple on Saturday and she's just awesome. I also got a darling picture from Lindsey Tolman in the mail on Tuesday that was AWESOME. Totally made my day (:

Wednesday:

"Today was a hard day." Haha it was. All our appointment cancelled (again), so we tried some mall contacting to do something new. That wasn't very successful, but I really felt the strength of the Lord helping me to just open my mouth and talk to all the people that walked by. I'm not super great at it, but with His help we talked to quite a few people! No one interested, but that's okay. BUT the first guy we talked to was hilarious! We were just asking people a few questions (What is the purpose of our life on earth? Who is Jesus Christ to you?) and his answers were GOLDEN. So he said that he didn't know what the purpose of life was, but that if he wasn't here he'd be in Sagitarious... And then he was like "you guys don't know where that is, do you. It's the black hole in the middle of the Milky Way. That's my hobby--I study the 'other place.'" Hahahaha and then we started talking about the Bible and he said he wasn't sure if it was true because it said that Eve didn't have a belly button and that didn't make any sense to him. Oh man. Then we went and had the most AWKWARD lesson with this girl, Mary Lou. She was super nice, but I don't think that she was expecting us to actually teach a lesson and stuff.. Oh man it was awkward. But it's okay! We went and knocked doors in another apartment complex near us (miles, ugh) and talked to a couple people! Then we were trying to make rice pudding for dinner and it boiled over and put out the pilot light. So that was fun. THEN! We went and volunteered at the Family History Center! And it was so cool, so many people from the branch came to get names for the temple trip this week! That was definitely this day's miracle. We were so happy to have so many people here with us (:

Thursday:
We did LOTS of weekly planning this day! But it was a lovely time, nonetheless (: We had a great lesson with a little less-active family, the mom of which just had a baby! It's the cutest little thing. Oh man. But her kids were super darling and great at participating and it was awesome! But her son, Alfredo, just wanted "queso de mozarela" the whole time.. Haha funny kid. We then contacted around her for a little over two hours and met some really sweet people! Max, the second guy we talked to, talked to us all about God and how he prays all the time for like half an hour on his porch! Haha we just sat there and nodded and agreed that prayer is awesome! He kept saying "Solamente Dios" and pointing at the sky. He's got a lot of faith :) Then we found this funny house that had a doorstep leading up to a wall.. Hahaha so we took pictures of course! I'll send them in another email! It was way funny. That night we finished weekly planning and didn't put out the pilot light on the stove making dinner. We also saw a TON of HUGE turkeys on the side of the road this day and that was pretty rad.

Friday:

Oh my HEAVENS what a day this was!! So we went on exchange with our Sister Training Leaders--me with Sister Baine and Sister Pace with Sister McConkie. They're the English sisters in our area right now and they're the BEST. I had such a wonderful time with Sister Baine and learned so much from her example! We talked to everyone and it was great! It was the beginning of a Jewish holiday, so all the hispanics that work for the Jews had the night off and everyone was outside walking around! It was sweet! We had 8 other lessons, which was so crazy! Sister Baine helped teach a couple, but she doesn't speak any Spanish so that was pretty funny! But she was great at saying hi to everyone and starting conversations for me to take off! Man. It was just so good. I don't even know how to explain everything that happened! But we saw so many miracles and met so many amazing people. We spent literally all day just walking around talking to people, we only had one planned lesson that didn't fall through. And that lesson was awesome! Leticia is a brand new investigator and I have a lot of faith that we can stick with her. She's really sweet. We also talked to these guys in front of their house that were a little bit under the influence, but really excited to hear about the gospel! They said they'd met the elders before and that they were looking for a church where people don't just take selfies the whole time.. So we told them to come to ours! The biggest problem we have, I've begun to notice, is that a lot of the Hispanics work for the Jews and they have to work every Sunday because Saturday is the Jew's sabbath. So getting anyone to church is a struggle and a half. We also went to Taco Loco for dinner, this sweet little taco truck I've driven past like twenty times! We met like 3 Jesus's, one of which said he had been looking for a church and then went on and on about the violence in El Salvador.. He was loco. But very kind! And then we walked down the street and I talked to a guy named Israel, who didn't seem super interested.. But at one point I was finally like "Israel, I promise you, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that if you pray tonight you WILL feel the love that your Heavenly Father has for you." And it was cool. I felt like the Spirit was really working through me the whole time we were talking, but I wasn't really expecting anything to come of it. But then on our walk back to our car, this guy who'd seen us give him a card asked for one too! So we really enthusiastically gave him one! His name was Pedro and he was AWESOME. He's totally going to be a branch president someday. Haha and Sister Baine even told him that! Anyway, he was super awesome, and Sister Baine was super awesome. Friday was definitely the best day I've had since I've been here! I felt so exhausted and so happy.

Saturday:

This day was pretty rad too! We woke up to a text from a number we didn't have in our phone our our iPad that said "I want you to teach me about the word of God like we agreed yesterday" (in Spanish, of course), so I texted back and was like "We're so happy you texted us! We don't have your number, remind us your name?" and we didn't get a text back! We were triste. But then we went and had our cute English class and the library and that was just lovely. We're happy to be there and helping!  We had a good lesson with the Vegas about the sacrament and were pulling SO hard for them to come to church on Sunday! They are a wonderful little family and we know this is the next step they need to take. They totally know it's true, they've told us, but there's just something keeping them from taking the action they need to. So we're gonna have to get real with them in our next appointment. But with love, of course :) And OH MAN one golden moment of this day: we were knocking doors on Cherry Street and this very intoxicated man answered the door and we said we were just sharing a video about Jesus Christ, it's just about two minutes, and we asked if we could share it with him. He said, "oh wait, I've got her right here." So he walked away for a second and I got SO excited to see what he would come back with. And sure enough, he walked back and showed us a CD called "Prayers of a Wounded Warrior" and said "tell me this isn't enough? I'm good. I don't need to watch your video." Hahahahaha and he was really nice about it! But we walked away and I could NOT stop laughing!! Oh. Prayers of a Wounded Warrior. I'm definitely looking that up in 18 months when I get home. Hahahahaha. Then we had a really awesome lesson with Alex, our recently re-activated guy, about the temple. He's so awesome. He is so close to the Spirit and so kind to us missionaries. It had been a little bit of a hard day, but the Lord knew what I needed to hear and Alex was in-tune enough to be able to say it. It was way awesome. Oh and THEN! Later this night, we got a text from the same number that texted us that morning and said he needed us to pray for him! So we texted back and said we would and that we knew he could feel God's love and comfort if he prayed too. He said thanks and that he wanted us to come over to his house, but we were asleep by the time we got it... 

Sunday:

So it turns out the mystery text was from Israel!! Isn't that crazy? I NEVER would have expected to hear from him again! But he said he wanted us to come meet with him, but we didn't have any time! So I said we could come on Monday or Tuesday and that he should come to church! He didn't end up coming, but we're really hopeful we get to see him in the next couple days! Anyway, it was a miracle. Like, that never happens. I was so surprised and so happy (: Not too much happened this day, and we didn't end up getting to see the Vegas, or any of our other investigators, at church. BUT we had a ton of less-actives there! It was so cool! So we made sure to go talk to all of them and we got a dinner appointment with a cute little family we've been trying to see for a long time! We're really excited :) We had a fireside last night up in New Brunswick, so we just went home for a quick lunch and then had to drive up to practice before the fireside. And lo and behold, I have become the mission pianist. Haha not sure how that happened, but it's okay! I pretty much just played piano for three hours straight but it was awesome! I played for four musical numbers and also some prelude. And THANK YOU for that awesome book mom, it was so fun to play through a little!! But anyway, yeah. I just played piano forever. But I'm happy to help and serve however I can :) I talked a lot to the Taggart's daughter, Sofie, who is SO cute. She reminds me a lot of Chloe and it makes me so happy to hug her and love her :) 

The work really isn't getting any easier for us here, but I'm still working on knowing who I am and what my purpose is and it's all good. I know that I'm doing my best and opening my mouth and that somehow or another we'll find the people the Lord has prepared. They'll show up and we'll be so happy to see them! But if not, it's okay. I'm doing my best and leaving the rest up to the Lord. And that's all I really can do :) But I'm happy! I'm tired, but I'm happy. Life is so good :)

 

Les Amoooo!

Hermana Millington