Week 30: Unexpected Changes...Again, Christmas Has Arrived, And How Is Your Challenge Going

LLEGO!!

Bueno, my packet finally arrived!! I am soooo happy!!! THANK YOU! And so have transfers, I am now in Turubamba with Hna. Rivera who is also from my group Woot!! She was also with me in Baños we were there for the same time and she is AMAZING!!!!! I know we are going to baptize FULL here. It is going to be great!!! I am soo excited. Bueno, I am also sad because I was only companions with Hna. Hamilton for 2 and a half weeks and we got along REALLY well. But I was starting to loose my spanish a lot jaja... no that´s not funny but it was true. I´m ging to miss her a lot. It was kind of funny the transfers were coming up and she was telling everyone "oh me voy, me voy" . Telling everyone that she was leaving, because it was almost certain that I was going to stay because I was only there for 2 weeks. But then we get the news of cambios and bueno, I am here in Turubamba. I can still hardly believe it because I was just starting to get to know everyone in my sector and the members are amazing and I am going to miss them sooo much. But don´t get me wrong I am going to love it here. I really like being in Quito, it is a little dirty but I love it here. What part of Quito is the Family Medina from? As I´m starting to get to know Ecuador more and more I think about the people I know who are from here and I wonder what part they are from.

This transfer has been one of the crazies transfers EVER. So I started out with Hna. Carter I was with her in Ambato for 2 weeks and then we bolth went to Quito to stay with the mission nurse and I was there for a week and a half working with the companion of the nurse (Hna. Martin) then I went to Chillogallo por como 2 and a half weeks con Hna. Hamilton. Needless to say it was crazy, I had almost 3 companions in one transfer. ¡Que loco! Things are going to mellow out (I hope).

I want to thank everyone for sending Christmas cards it has really been such a great little pick me up and I love hearing how everyone is doing and it just makes me really happy. I hope you all know that you all mean so much to me in this journey and your encouragement has helped me in ways that you cannot understand. Les doy gracias por todo. Sigan haciendo lo bueno!

And I want to hear how the challenge that I left with you went. Did ya do it? If so, could you please write me and

tell me a little bit about your experience? And if you didn´t I would have you know that you just rejected the invitation of a Representative of Jesus Christ. That´s medio apostacy. Just so you know. Jaja just kidding. But I would invite you to take it up again. Repentance is real. And I know that the missionaries would LOVE the help. This past week we started an experiement as a zone in which we could NOT knock doors at all, we could only street contact or even better go with members and have them take us to friends or have them knock. And let me tell you, without members it is HARD, HARD, HARD. But with members it is soo much better and sooooo much more effective.

For those of you who forgot what the challenge was, here ya go: That is my challenge for you all today. Go out and or 1. Give the missionaries a name of someone who could be interested. 2. Go out on splits with the missionaries 3. Talk to a friend about the Church. One or all three. I know the Lord will bless you as you as you do this it may not be the blessing you think it will be but I promise you there will be blessings. And as a representative of Christ I can promise you that.

Les amo bastante!

Hermana Milligan

Ps. Sorry for not sending pictures I have been going to slightly sketchy internets and I really didn´t want a virus. But Things are better here so I will be sending pictures soon. Like next week. jaja

Week 29: Burned, Burned, Burned, Companion Parasites, Thank You, And A Challenge From A Representative Of Christ

"My nose is a potato."

That is a little quote from my Líder de Distrito aquí en Tarqui. So last Pday we went on a "little walk" and it turns out that we climed a mountain. Well what they said was that is was bigger than a hill and smaller than a mountain. But practectly a mountain and I didn´t go prepared and was soooo burned, my nose is pealing like a potato and my neck as well it is sooo gross to say the least. Jaja. I have learned my lesson that here in Quito I need to put on sunscreen. Every day.

Well this past week was a bit rough my poor companion has paracites and the pills to get rid of them are almost just as bad as what she had before hand. Pobrecita! I have been blessed with a stomach of steal here. I have not had hardly any problems with my stomach (knock on wood, oh wait I´ll be doing plenty of that for the next year jaja). We lost one of our investigators de oro, he just kind of dropped off the face of the earth o sea, he left to Quayaquil. :/ I´m just praying that he can find the missionaries there. But aside from that everything is going well. We are working hard and are always tired, I´ve been told that is a good sign that we are working well. 

I want to thank everyone for all the Christmas cards, it is the greatest to recieve letters from everyone and see how everyone is doing. so here is one great big GRACIAS for everyone. 

So I can hardly believe that this cambio is almost over! I don´t want Hna Hamilton to leave we get along great, she puts up with my emotions really well jaja. But it is rather likely that she will leave. She has been in Quito this whole time and has not had a single latina companion. So this coming Sunday we will find out if there are changes. It feels like each cambio goes by faster than the other and I am only a third of the way through. I can only imagine how it will be when I reach my half way mark. Crazy.

Spiritual thought for the week:

Heleman 6:3 in this verse the members of the Church are rejoicing for the conversion of there brotheren. I just want to remind everyone that although you may not have the plack or have been set apart as a missionary. The promise in D y C 18:5 is for every person. The worth of souls is great and so will be your joy in helping others. Even if it is just a reference to the missionaries or better yet you got out and teach with them or even just giving a friend a book of mormon. You will be able to see grand blessings and even if your friend hasn´t showed interest in the Gospel it doesn´t matter your bravery and faith will show through and you will be the instrument in helping someone come to Christ. That is my challenge for you all today. Go out and or 1. Give the missionaries a name of someone who could be interested. 2. Go out on splits with the missionaries 3. Talk to a friend about the Church. One or all three. I know the Lord will bless you as you as you do this it may not be the blessing you think it will be but I promis you there will be blessings. And as a representative of Christ I can promise you that. ;P

Les amo mucho!

Hermana Milligan

This is the two kids of a family that I taught in Baños the parents aren´t married but the kids are just the most amazing ever! and they got baptized! I´m going to count them as mine because I found them and taught them I just didn´t participate in their baptism. Just wanted to let you know that.

Week 28: Grateful For Our Father's Plan, Chillogallo, New Contacts, Hike For A View, Why Take Upon The Name Of Christ...

Hola familia!

First things first, I am sad/ happy to hear about Grandma Davis. I know that she is now in a better place and is no longer suffering. As my mission president told me Thanks to the Plan of Salvation that we know that death is not the end. And it is so true, it is for this knowledge that I am not really sad. I am sad that I won´t be able to give her a hug in this life but I know that I will see my grandma again and that is the hope that I am bringing to others.

Okay so I haven´t been able to write very much these past few weeks but now things are starting to normal out. Woot! So I am now in Chillogallo en un sector se llama Tarqui con la Hermana Hamilton. She came in my group and is fantastic we get along great and are finding some awesome people, which reminds me of my first day in this sector we went out contacting and we go to this one house and there was this chica and we presented ourselves and she was like one minute and left. And out comes this joven o sea young kid and he told us to go to another gate but the way he said it we thought he was just telling us to keep moving on but no, he told us to go to another gate so we could come in. And so we walk in feeling a little awkward and he starts setting up two chairs, now we didn´t present ourselves to him, and so Hna Hamilton asks if he knows who we are and he says yeah, you´re the missionaries de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos días. Bueno. así somos. And it turns out that he is from the coast and in here going to school but like two months before and he told us that he wanted to finish what he started with the other missionaries. He is sooo awesome. He wants to serve a mission and everything he even went to Church and it was great!

So today the district leaders were like let´s go on a walk to this really great view of Quito! Okay we said. And it turns out that we literally  climbed a mountain well as they say here cerro which is to say bigger than a hill but smaller than a mountain. Bueno. We ran out of water more than half way up and it was just crazy, but it was soooo pretty les voy a enviar fotos. It but let me tell you it wasn´t a "walk" it was one of the hardest hikes of my
life! but so pretty and great to get my mind off things. I have a great zone!

Spiritual thought D y C 18:22-24. Why do we need to take upon us the name of Christ? Bueno, Because that is the name that we will be called in the LAst days. I don´t know about you but I would sure like to know the name that the Lord will call me with. I know that families can be together forever only in and through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior and as we accept what he has done and take the discision to follow him. 

Les amo mucho,

Lauree

Week 27: Emergency Transfer New Companion, New Area... Chillegallo It Is.

Bueno, emergency changes have come and I am going to Chillogallo with Hna. Hamblton. She is from my group and we are going to ROCK IT! I just know. But just so you know things are going well, nothing has really happened this week it has just been a fairly standard week I went out on splits with Hna Martin and it was wicked awesome and we found some pretty great people. I pretty much LOVE Quito it is amazing!!!! Ellos son mi gente. I love it here. But I have yet to see my new sector. But I won´t be able to write till Monday for sure this time. So, just so yall know I´m fine and things are great. 

les amo bastante

Hna. Milligan

Week 26 Part II: Second P-day. Blending In With The Natives, Spending Time With The Nurse, A 25 Cent Miracle, And Grace

¡Buenas tardes!

How is everyone? Okay so don´t freak out that I am writing this on Saturday, I´m not being disobedient, like I said in my last letter, we are staying with the mission nurse and her Pday is on Saturday so yeppers I am here and I get to write twice in one week. woah. Crazy. Oh, and because I was sick and tired of all the cat calls and I didn´t want to come home with a complex, that if I didn´t get whistled at at least 5 times in the day that I wan´t pretty, I decided to dye my hair. A nice dark brown color. And it worked. The cat calls have gone down to maybe one or two a day. Woohoo!

So just a little update on how things are going with Hna. Carter. She is doing a LOT better (I can tell the prayers are working). It was thought that she would be going home but with lots of prayer and the help of our wonderful mission President, she is staying! Woohoo! But sadly not as my companion :(, but up unto this point I don´t know who my companion will be I´ll find out Monday, then Monday I´ll be shipped off to my area and will keep you informed. 

So, I got to go on splits this week with Hna. Martin, I have just one transfer more than her, and we went contacting and it was really funny, because it was a new sector for both of us and we just happened to run into all the members and less active members in that area. Jaja. It was great. So, I just want to share this one experience with you. So as we were contacting, this woman with her two kids walks by us and you know we say "hola" and she keeps walking and when she is about half way down the street Hna. Martin looks at me and we both say "We need to talk to her!" but not wanting it to be awkward or anything, you know she had just walked past us and it would have been weird if we had just followed her. So I say "we could say she dropped a dollar..." and that is what we did, but with 25 cents... jaja and so we started to talk with her and we found out more about her and taught the Restoration and she is super buena! Super she has a bunch of questions and it was a great experience. And no joke it was directly after we prayed to find someone. The Lord loves His children and it is true if we ask for what we want and if it is a righteous desire, He will give it to us. Mateo 7:7 is real. 

I love you all sooo much and I know the Lord is watching over you. Just remember who you are, remember your baptismal covenant and what it means. (Mosiah 18:9-10). Remember that grace doesn´t mean that you have to do all you can to pay back the debt, grace means that it has already been payed for and that you are just preparing yourself for how comfortable you want to be in God´s presence (September Liahona 2013).  

Les amo bastante!

Hna. Milligan

Week 26: Feliz Ano Nuevo, Crossing Mission Boundaries, Wicked Traditions, And Remember Lot"s Wife

Okay, so to start off the new year I got transferred to the Quito Norte mision....No, just kidding. But I am in Quito for the rest of the week. My compaion is going through something and so we have to be with the Mission Nurse and she lives in the other mission so for right now I am in Quito. So just if you could keep my compa in your prayers that would be fantastic.

So, remember how I said I was waiting for some wicked awesome traditions for Christmas and there wasn't really anything? Well the traditions are all in New Years. Like everything is shut down and and it is only by miracle that I am writing you right now. But they have this tradition of making these paper mache type manikins that represent people that they don't really like or that they don't want in office or sports teams and then they burn it. And also the men like to cross dress and pull people out of cars and dance with them in the streets... Yeah, we can't leave the house after 6. Things are definitely different here. But it is quite interesting.  

Okay so I don't have my study journal with me right now but I would like to encourage you all to read/listen to the talk given by Elder Holland titled "Remember Lot's wife" it is perfect for the new year and it is all around amazing. I love you all so much and I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well. And please as you go about making your new years resolutions, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!!!!

Les amo,

Herman Milligan