Week 8 A Priesthood Blessing, A Trip To The Hospital, And What They Eat...

Hola mi Familia!

¿Què pasa? Wow. A lot has happened this past week. For starters last monday Hna. Aldàs got really sick with some stomach thing in fact during the time I wrote you last. And then on Tuesday I got sick not really bad but enough that I was out for the day. So we had two days of doing nothing. Let me tell you, being sick is bad but not progressing the work in any way is HORRIBLE. Then thursday I was just having a really hard time with the language and everything. I wasn`t feeling like I was doing any good, I felt like because of my horrible español I was chasing away investigators. Ay. It was bad. Really bad. So Saturday rolls around and I just couldn`t take it any more and I broke down and in broken spanish tried to explain to mi compañera what was going on. Thankfully there happened to be a baptism for someone in the other area and our district leaders were there for that and I was able to recieve a blessing and wow. That blessing really really helped. I felt better after and I even started to speak better spanish. I am so grateful for this gospel and the priesthood. It really is a miracle. Also on saturday Hna Aldàs cut her had really bad in the morning oh it was bad. We patced it up and she thought it would be fine. but later that day it was still bleeding a lot and so we went on a wild goose chase first to the hospital. Oh I am so glad for the hospitals in the U.S.!!! And then to a clinic and then to another clinic and then she had to get 3 stitches. Oh it was crazy!! But all is well now. Todos està bien! 

On a more positive note, my español is improving. The Lord really does answer prayers. But there is a catch, it is only during lessons. Haha. Que bueno. During lessons I can understand a lot better and I can express the principles in the lesson much better than say last week. It`s a miracle!!! Really though it is such a miracle to be able to even just understand. And then be able to speak. Such a miracle. I think my compañera has the gift of tongues because she can understand me in my poor spanish. Haha she is fantastic! Such a good teacher.

Today we got to go on a hike! Oh I was as happy as could be! It was beautiful!!! I thought I had seen a waterfall before...but no.The waterfall at the end was like no other I have ever seen. So big and so gorgeous! And I´ll send pictures just so you can believe me.

I would like to share a scripture that has really helped me this week. Alma 26:12 y 16 (I think it is 16....I left my notes at home again) But in these scriptures Ammon is saying I glory in the Lord for as to my strength I am nothing... It is so true. There is absolutely no way that I could learn as much spanish as I have in the time that I have on my own. No way. It is all the Lord. And it is amazing how much you can do when you realize that. Even then maintaing that way of thinking is even harder. But wow. So many blessings this week. 

And the other is cuy. Chevere :)

If I am not mistaken this is guinea pig

To answer you questions mommy. The food here is fantastic!!! I can`t decide if I am going to loose weight here or gain wait.... Haha I alwasy wake up and feel like I haven`t eaten for days but then by the time lunch rolls around (we eat lunch at the members house) and the portions they give us I feel like I am going to explode from too much food. Especially from the rice! Ay! The rice alone is like two meals. SO MUCH COMIDA!! It starts out with a soup, not just a little soup but like a meal of soup, then they give us the meal with rice, more rice, a salad, and meat, usually chicken. And juice. SOOO much food! I can barely finish it all. But then an hour later I just want to eat more. Usually bread, the bread here is LO MEJOR!!!! I love it so much! How many members? I don`t know the exact number there are a lot of inactive members but oh the members here have a very special place in my heart. I love them so much! There is a difference in the members here. Growing up in Utah the light that everyone talks about is hard to seen because I had grown accustomed to it. But here I can see a difference, there is a light and this may sound rude but the members here are cleaner than the other people. Serious. It is amazing. The investigators who attended church. One of them fell through.. But the other is right on track and it makes me so happy! She lives like 20 minutes bus ride away but she makes it and it makes me so happy! She is great.

Oh, if you have already sent the package then don`t pay attention to this. But If you could fit some tights in that package it would be great! It is sooo cold here and I don`t ever want to shave....Haha

 

Les amo,

Hermana Milligan

Week 7 It Is Baños NOT Baño

Buenas tarde mi familia!!

Ay! So much to say! I have two hours to write now. ¡Que dulce! Mi epañol is still in need of MUCHAS ayuda (lots of help) but todos està bien. The weather here is fairly temperate, it is quite cold and when it rains it RAINS. It is so different here por ejemplo, I`m certain every person has a dog and every dog has a dog. There are so many dogs here! It is o hard for me not to pet them! Especially the puppies but I am being strong because I don`t want fleas. Haha But the biggest difference is the people they are so open and friendly! Me encanta!   Mi compañera se llama Hermana Aldàs, she is so sweet. Super helpful and super friendly! She is great! She is from Ecuador, the coast, and is here waiting for her visia to Mexico. She has only been here for hmm 12 weeks. Yeah. After 12 weeks I could be training! How crazy is that?  My first area se llama
 Baños, and no not baño like the bathroom haha that is what I thought when I first heard it. But it is SOOO incredibly pretty and apparently it is the area all the other missionaries wish they were in. It is simply gorgeous! It is very touristy. Look up pictures and you will be blown away. Daddy, not to make you jealous or anything but there is a great view of a waterfall outside our casa. Not to make you jealous...:P There are only hermanas in this area and it was split just before I came. The other sisters here are in a trio. Hermana Jones is here too. Haha I love how we have just kinda stuck together this whole time. Pretty much all of the busy part of the city is in the other area. Pero està bien. I´m working on contacting and it is hard because I know what I´m saying (sometimes they don´t) but I don´t know what they are saying. So I can ask them for their name and they start talking and all I can do in nod my head and try and repeat back what they said. Hahaha. But spanish is really getting better. I feel bad for Hna. Aldàs because she is used to speaking really fast (that is what it is like on the coast) and with me she can`t talk fast. Ay... It is also hard for me because I don´t like being talked to like I don´t understand but in all honesty I don´t unless she breaks it down like one would for a child. Don´t get me wrong she isn´t being mean at all! No not one bit. She just has to explain things in simple terms and that is the only way I can really understand. Pero està bien. 

Oh in my short little clip when I got here I said that I placed my first Book of Mormon! Es la verdad. Haha well it is actually a funny story. So, on the way to Ecuador we got to fly first class (it was SO nice, I didn`t know what to do with myself) but the man I sat next to was very friendly and spoke both english and spanish. And he started asking me questions about the gospel! Crazy! But apparently he had met the missionaries before but they hadn´t talked about the gospel (shame on them!) but as I was explaining in broken spanish/english he would help me. I would say it in english and he would translate in español. It was really helpful. But in the end he said that he doesn`t believe that you have to belong to a church to recieve revelation (which is true, but he didn´t want anything to do with an organized church) and he didn`t see why it was important to have prophets. But any who I tried explainin the Book of Mormon but I was so excited that my thoughts were all over the place and it wasn´t very good so I said, That if he would like to understand better then he should read it. So I gave it to him and sadly he said that it could probably go to better use for someone else but if I wanted him to have it he would take it. So of course I said I wanted him to have it. So he took it. Hopefully he reads it.

Oh, and another funny story. So with the 12 week program they have for missionaries now the newby (me) is supposed to be the one to extend all the baptismal invitations. So first real day here, all the appointments that we had before fell through and so we were just contacting (which is just picking a door and knocking, who knew, not me) pero, we went to a members house for references and we went to one of the member´s neighbors and she let us in. Hna Aldàs taught a beautiful lesson and then in was my turn to extend the invite. So I do. And the lady nods her head and I´m thinking "Wow! this is fantastic!" untill I find out that she wasn`t paying attention. Hahaha so I have to repeat and then she says no. Ay. Now I can laugh about it.Oh and cool story. We have this one investigator who was really close to baptism but needs to attend church more and she said she would be there this sunday and we were waiting and waiting and sacrament was about to start and she still wasn´t there so Hna. Aldàs suggested we pray and I prayed in my poor spanish that she would come. And just like 5 minutes later there she was! It was beautiful! We also had another investigator come to church with us. It was a good day. 

So, for the first two days we didn`t have any furniture, nada. No beds, nothing. It was bad. And the other hermanas the trio only had two beds. So we had to push all the beds together and share for the first night. Loco. Then the next night we stayed at the home of a member, she is so sweet! Then the thrid day we finally got furniture. It was quite an adventure. But the hermana that let us stay the night is sooo sweet She reminds me of Sister Z but she only speaks spanish and I can´t really understand her. Haha. 

In my studies I was looking up The Fall and in the Bible Dictionary (in english) I love how the topic right after The Fall of Adam is Family. It was just someting little that I noticed but I love it! The Fall lead to Families. How beautiful is that! Love it! But the scripture I really want to share with you is John 4:39. If I wrote it down correctly it is the one that talks about how many people were converted because of the woman at the well and her testimony. The power of a testimony is a beautiful thing. Right now that is pretty much the only thing I can do. But I want to challenge you all to take advantage of the times you have to bear simply testimony of what you know to be true. You never know it could be just what someone needs to hear just just never know. So be of good cheer and do not fear. 

OH Mommy! Thank you soooo much for the package! I love it so much I look at the pictures all the time and I love showing it off! Oh and thank you for the CTR ring. I didn`t discover it till today and it was such a blessing! Thank you! Oh and I was wrong, the weight limit for packages is 8lbs not 4lbs it is 4 kilos and so I was confused. Haha. I LOVE hearing how everthing is going! Thank you THANK YOU! So good to hear about the wedding! It made me laugh and almost cry because it made me so happy. Mommy thanks for sharing about gilrs camp, made me smile so much. Daddy I absolutely LOVE how you explained the law of chastity with the bread! Fantastico! Daddy I really hope your leg/ankle gets better. How is grandma doing? I`ll try and send pictures. We`ll see how that goes. Les amo mucho! You are all siempre in mi prayers. Haha spanglish. I hope there isn`t anything I`m not supposed to share in here. It is really long. But I love you all so much and I know that even though I can`t really understand everything the spirit is still the same. I hope all is well with everyone.

LES AMO! 

P.s. gracias tio.

Week 6 Placed My First Book of Mormon...Made It To Quito

Hola familia! 

I'm in Quito now! Made it safe and sound with only minor confusion on my part with Spanish haha. I placed my first book of mormon on the plane... That is a story for another time because I only have 5 minutes. Love you all so much. And Mommy it is probably not a good idea to send me a big package... I'll do fine with out. Because it costs like 20 bucks if it is over 4 lbs. I am going to learn so much faster here and I'm so excited. I hope everything is going well with you. I really enjoyed calling yesterday. I can hardly believe that I am here now. Muchas bediciones. I don't think I know how to spell in any language anymore... haha. Much love. Pday is on Monday. 

Love,

Hermana Milligan

Week 5 The Lord Calls Us In Our Imperfections And Then Qualifies Us For The Trials

This is my district with two of our old teachers.
Hermana Vasques y Hermano Silva.

Hola mi familia! ¿Que pasa? Just so you all know I may be better at speaking español pero spelling is a different story...Bueno. Haha. I hope all is well back in el estados unidos. Is this the week for Girls Camp? Oh I´m so excited for you mommy, I know it is going to be un gran exitó! ¿Can you believe I have been here for cinco semanas? Yo no lo creo. Haha I can´t wait till I can look back on all my spanglish and just laugh. That will be a beautiful day.  I just want to let everyone who helped me get out here thank you, I wish I could just tell you each individually how much it means to me to know that you support me and my family. Thank you all. Se amo!

So I will be heading out to Ecuador sometime next week...no sé qué día. We will find out our travel plans this friday. So this is the last email from México por mi. Forever. I may or may not get to call when I arrive in Ecuador so keep your phones cerca and we shall see how that works out. Probablemente Monday o Tuesday. Wow. I just can´t believe that it has only been 5 weeks it feels like it is much longer yet at the same time it has just flown by so fast!

The second is of a tree we found in what we called
 the Sacred grove. The top part was done by the 
last generation of students here and then 
we added the bottom part.

Sunday we had a really awesome lesson and I wanted to share some of it with you pero I left my notes en mi casa.... Well I will share what I can remember. For reliefe society we had a lesson on revelation and it was wonderful. Hermana Pratt shared a story about a time she was planning Girls Camp (yes, I thought of you mommy) and how there was a need and an answer came that turned out to be very helpful. Sorry it is so vague I only remember that it was about Girls Camp. Haha Then we watched another devotional by Elder Holland (he REALLY likes missions/missionaries) and I really wish I had my notes. Pero he shared a story about a missionary somewhere in Europe who was new didn´t know the language well but helped change the heart of a woman who had lost a child and other religious people had told her that her daugher was confined to limbo (or something like that) and all becuase this elder knew the Book of Mormon he was able to help her. It was so awesome. Even in faltering imperfect language the Spirit can and will testify to the hearts of the people. After that we watched the new José Smith video and there was this one line that has stuck with me a lot since then. "The Lord calls us in our imperfections and then qualifies us for the trials" I know it is said a lot and isn´t anything new pero it is such a comfort to know that we aren´t called to a specific calling because we are perfect or ready for it in the sence that we think we should be we are perfect for it because we are imperfect and can then be made strong through it. Se amo! I hope everything is well I pray for you all especially Grandma Davis. Spencer remember the key to happiness is obedience. Matt, the Lord loves you more than you can even understand. Daddy, you got this, you have the Lord on your side, how can you go wrong? Mommy, the Lord is right there cheering you on and he knows your needs remember to turn to him. One of my favorite hymns is "Where can I turn for Peace?" Todos está bien! Give Mary and Joel my love. Tell Amber and Eric I love them and am so happy for their new addition to their family.

Con amor y oracion,

Hermana Milligan

P.s did you get my pictures? Oh and I just have to share that the food here has really improved! They give us a lot of flan! and I love it! Hermana Welch on the other hand does not haha! It makes me smile. I´ll try and send more pictures this week.