Monday, October 22, 2012
On Fire!
I know that what I am doing right now is what God wants me to be doing. I serve Him, and love His work. I´m working on a list of things to remember. But the truth is there are three things that are crucial to maintain the Spirit: Sincere Prayer, Earnest scripture study, and participating in the sacrament each Sunday to receive a remission of our sins. The Gospel gives us the strength to do what we can´t, and to love what we can. I don´t have anymore time to write, but no worries, I´ll be filling you all in. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through a Prophet of God. We have a living Prophet today who leads and guides us. The Book of Mormon is the work of God and it brings us closer to Him. Christ is my Savior, He lives, and I will Walk with him.
I love you all
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, October 15, 2012
Let the Spirit Guide
OK so not much time this week, but we had some really special experiences. The one that hit me the hardest I think was on Sunday morning. Sundays we get up early so we can go and get all of the people we are teaching, and take them to church. We don´t have cars, and the bus system is basically non existent on the weekends, therefore we walk.... a lot, nothing out of the ordinary. We went to get all of the people we are teaching but despite all of our efforts only 2 made it to church, one of which was a miracle, I love those:). So after having looked for all of our people, we were feeling a little down, but we decided that that train of thought would not get us anywhere productive. On our way to church there was a young man probably about 20 sitting on a doorstep, and I felt something pull me to him, so I asked him,¨what are you waiting for?¨ he said ¨huh?¨ I repeated the question and he asked why and I said because it looked like he wasn't doing anything. We invited him to come with us, the Church was two more blocks down the street. He said he already knew the church. Well that's an interesting statement. Further on in the conversation we learned that he had been baptized in Moreno, another area, when he was 16, and that he had believed what he had learned. But he didn't want to go with us. Or give us any information so we could find him again. We gave him our number. but I felt like he was really hurting so with a prayer in my heart I told him just how much God loved him, and that He knows what he´s going through. ¨Your Heavenly Father wants you to know that He loves you, and he wants you to find happiness¨ his eyes watered and I just wanted to take all of his hurts away. We talked about the sacrifice of Christ, and the opportunity we have to give Him our burdens. I asked him if he still had his Book of Mormon, he said no. I smiled and said, I have a gift for you, pulled one out of my bag, marked a few passages and gave it to him. He said ¨I still won´t come, but I´ll read¨ His name is Jonathan, so if you all would pray for him, I´d appreciate it. I love you all.
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, October 8, 2012
"The Standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing!!!!"
I love general conference!!! I learned so much about our purpose and calling. I wish I could share all of my notes with you, but that would take far too long. My favorite talk was Elder Holland's. It was very similar to a talk he gave in the MTC. He spoke of the 3 year ministry of Christ and His Apostles. When Christ ascended to His Father in Heaven, I´m sure the apostles asked ¨well now what?¨ I´ve been praying for many answers of late. One of which concerning the not so distant future, when I too will be separated from a ministry of 18 months, serving the people of Argentina with my all. I was sure to be faced with that terrible question of ¨well now what?¨
The work doesn´t end. Once a missionary always a missionary. Members of the Church have a unique opportunity to share the Gospel with those whom they love. The circumstances change, relationships are different. But the doctrine is the same.
God has said ¨for behold this is My work and My glory, to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man¨ that's the doctrine.
God loves each and every one of us. He wants us to come home. We all agreed to come here. I feel that we knew somewhat of our future circumstances. Those who would not be born in the Gospel, made the decision to come anyway, acting on faith, it was a big risk. They put their salvation on the line. They trusted in the promise that each would have the chance to hear the blessed news of the Gospel of Christ. Trusting that they would be found. Trusting you and me. That trust was based on experience we had with one another before this life.
My companion and I were talking about this the other day. I said that if I hadn´t been born in the gospel, I don´t know if I would have had the faith to come here, knowing that I might not see my Heavenly Father again. But as I pondered I felt the Spirit whisper that I would, and he told me why. Knowing my brother, my companions that I have had, my family, my dear friends, the many people whom I love here in Argentina, I have no doubt that they would find me. I know them, and I know the kind of people they are. They don´t give up, they work to feed Christ's sheep, and find His lost lambs. That's who they were from the beginning, before the world was, and that's who they continue to be.
The Lord is gathering His children, and he´s doing it through each one of us. A whole new generation of missionaries are coming to the field. And another is returning to the fields where they began, to continue the work, and establish peace and joy in their homes. Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, we will all Press On in the Work of the Lord. I love you all. Stay safe. Study the words of the Prophet. Pray to receive testimony of their words, Act on that witness that you Will receive.
smile - hermana Hannah Milmont
Monday, October 1, 2012
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| It's 70 degrees, and then in the 20's - and thus we see that Argentine springs are crazy |
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| The Peruvian Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs |
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| This is my new comp Hermana Soto...or rather the future Hermana Soto :) |
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| la familia Davison and la familia Blanco |
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| la Hermana Casabuena y yo |
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| Painting! Only new members let us do service. |
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| Rafa y yo |
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| Our Dr. Seuss tree |
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| Teaching Brenda and Mika how to make cookies |
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| My Peruvian twin Evelyn |
Monday, September 24, 2012
Plans Are Meant to Be Changed
Each week we make very... very extensive plans for all of the people we teach each week. Starting on Thursday going through the following Sunday (ten days) it's a true test of faith for me. In Argentina, many don´t think farther ahead than 24 hours... therefore, planning appointments with someone for the following week is 100% faith that the Lord will help that appointment follow through, and if not that another plan will emerge. This week I was able to see the blessings of preparation. We made plans.... a ton of plans, with members to go with us, and what we would be teaching to whom, and how we would help them increase in faith. Most of those plans fell through, but as we trusted in the Lord, and went forward we ended up helping a lot more people than we had imagined. It's comforting to me that plans can change, and that God plans too. He see´s the big picture. So when my limited understanding see´s the disintegration of a very planned out day, its ok:) because God has a better plan. The key is that we put in our part. We receive blessings as we prepare, and act. He takes our preparation and our forward movement and directs where it will be most effective for His purposes. I love you all. Stay safe and make preparations.
smile - Hna. Milmont
P.S. your homework - read and apply:)
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/09/sharing-the-gospel-heart-to-heart?lang=eng
Monday, September 17, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Come to the Lord
This weekend has been incredible. Friday and Saturday night I got 7 hours of sleep total. But it was worth it. In Buenos Aires there are 3 missions, and in each mission are approximately 200 missionaries. We had the incredible blessing to have a special meeting with President Henry B. Eyring, Elder M. Russell Ballard, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson. These three men are called of God to Share the Gospel with all of God's children. We as missionaries have been entrusted in helping that same work of the Lord move forward. They shared with us that the Gospel is the key to happiness within the family, everything that we do is done with the knowledge that it will bless our family, including those who have come before and those who have yet to arrive in this mortal experience. God is our Father, we are His Family. His divine plan was created for one purpose, just one: to teach us how to come home. I cannot imagine my life without my family. Think about it for a minute. Pause, ponder , ask yourself, do I know what happens after this life? Do I have the assurance that I can be with my family forever? How do I gain that assurance? I promise you that there is a way to receive that sure promise of an eternal family. It is through the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He taught the steps necessary to return to live with God. That though Faith in Christ and His sacrifice, Repentance and the desire to become more like Him, Baptism by one holding the Priesthood Authority of God, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost which purifies us, and Enduring to the End by keeping the commandments of God, we can make it home. Jesus Christ, your elder brother is inviting you every day to come unto Him, that through Him you can return and live with your Father who loves you specifically. This is the testimony that I share with you because I know that He loves you. Have a beautiful week.
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, September 3, 2012
What gift do you have that God wants you to be grateful for?
I had a great conversation with my companion this past week about the opportunity we have to develop personally. Many times I catch myself thinking on what I can improve. But this can be dangerous. If you try to change everything at once then all of a sudden nothing gets done, no progress happens. And then you get frustrated. But the truth is, we learn step by step, line by line. Hermana Kapp and I did an experiment.... well, not really an experiment, but we wanted to see if we could describe each other in 3 words. I described her, after much pondering, as - powerful - direct - sincere. a few hours later we had just gotten back to our pension. She said ¨its interesting how you described me, because those are things that have struggled with all my live¨ after that experience we really could see ourselves on a path of progression. God gives unto men weakness so that they might learn to humble themselves and let the Lord make those weaknesses strengths, make us - the weak things of the world - into something and someone superb, that we could not have become on our own. I love how the gospel helps us grow and the opportunity to continue growing and learning. Our Weaknesses are gifts.
We are teaching a young man named Rafael who is in a wheelchair. But he is incredibly independent. What impresses me most is that when he needs help, he recognizes it, and he asks. I asked him if he had ever not been helped. He looked at me and replied simply ¨the people are good¨ My testimony of many things grew with those 4 words. I pray that all of us can recognize when we need help, and when those around us need help. He is right, the people are good, let us loose the fear to show it. I love you all - stay safe
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, August 27, 2012
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| Recycle! Wahoo! |
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| Cristian, Alfredo, someone I don't know, yo |
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| At the temple open house one of the people I was teaching in my first area came (Monica). She's now active and her son Alfredo is preparing to serve his mission, I was so happy! |
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| My homemade milk holder - cereal box and packing tape :) |
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| La casa de terror |
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| Kapp, yo, Vargas, Lind |
Monday, August 20, 2012
Book of Mormon
I got sick this week and had to be inside for 3 days and am currently taking amoxiciline... fun stuff. As much as I dread being inside I try to look at the positive side of things. About 4 months ago our mission decided to read the Book of Mormon together in 2 months. For better or for worse each one of us has our weaknesses. One of mine is that I´m a slow reader. Most people can read 11 pages of the Book of Mormon in 30 to 40 minutes, I read 5-6 pages in a hour, and time is not something that we have a lot of as missionaries.. Needless to say, I got very behind very quickly. It was a struggle wanting so badly to complete the task and doing everything in my power to do so and just not cutting it. The two months came and I was only half way done. I decided that I wouldn´t let it get me down, I pressed on. And on the 17th of this month, I completed the Book of Mormon! I love that book and the things that it teaches. I know that it's true. It contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so grateful that I get to share it with the world. In its very pages the words of ancient Prophets speak of the gathering of Israel and how the gospel will be spread to the four corners of the earth in the latter days. That prophecy is being fulfilled today, and we are a part of it! What a blessing to be born in this time and under these circumstances. I invite all of you to find a Book of Mormon, read it, ponder it in your heart, and ask God in sincere prayer if it's true. As a representative of Jesus Christ I promise you that He will answer through the Holy Spirit, with a feeling of peace and assurance that you can´t mistake. I love you all and I pray for your happiness.
smile - Hna. Milmont
Monday, August 13, 2012
Lost and Loving it.
So my companion, hermana Kapp, and I are both new in this area... so basically... WE DON´T KNOW ANYTHING! It's splendid. We are gaining a new appreciation for prayer and step by step learning who´s who and what´s what. But I´ve heard a lot of great things about this ward, and the members, so that's exciting. Its a big area... but nothing compared to my previous area. Therefore I have great hopes of being well versed in all the colectivos and streets by the end of the week:)
We are working with a young man named Rafael. He´s in a wheel chair and has a lot of challenges to overcome. But his faith is incredible. We contacted him on the street as we were giving out invitations to the Temple open house. He seemed relatively interested as he accepted the invitation. Well, the truth is that there are lot of people who seem relatively interested, therefore we didn´t think too much of it. Now for the question... what makes him different? He not only accepted the invitation but he came to church on Sunday and went to the temple on Wednesday. Despite his physical limitations, he went through all the trials involved with wheelchairs and showed up. He doesn´t think he has faith, but I know that as he continues to progress he will recognize that which the Lord has waiting for him, and see his faith grow.
We were in the Temple helping with the tours Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning (I´m going again tomorrow and Wednesday:). It was truly a wonderful experience. I love the Temple and the spirit that is found within. It's interesting though. I was talking with my companion about the whole experience and we both noticed, as peaceful as the Temple is right now, we can tell that it has yet to be dedicated. The dedication of the Temple is something very sacred. A prayer is offered by one possessing the priesthood authority of God, in this prayer the building is set apart as a sanctified place, the literal house of God. Within the Temple we learn of our purpose on this earth and our testimonies grow as we find peace and the answers to the questions hidden in our hearts. I love the temple so much and the blessing that my family has received though going to the temple, I know that it is the literal house of God. I love this Temple here in Buenos Aires and I am so excited to enter once it has been dedicated and feel the presence of my Heavenly Father therein. I love you all and I pray that you are safe.
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, August 6, 2012
Transfers!
I Was Devastated... and no I can´t spell. Every 6 weeks there is the possibility that we move to a new area with a new companion. Well, after six months in my Beloved Vicente López, I suppose it's my turn to be transferred. We waited for the phone call last night with anticipation and terror, we knew something would happen, and we had heard that they are planning to split my area again (We have been working the entire area of Vicente López) so I thought for sure I would stay because I´m the only sister who knows the area..... but it wasn´t meant to be. I´m now in Villa Urquiza with Hermana Kapp and we are splitting the area. I´m super excited, but there is definitely some bitter sweet feelings. I will miss hermana binks dreadfully.
OK so what happened last week.
Juan Carlo (we found 4.5 months ago) came to Church! By himself!!!! He came because he was looking for comfort and he knew where to find it. He´s so close. And he wants to know for himself the truth of the gospel. Dario wants to get married and go to the temple. I finally found Nicolas. He´s this kid with dread locks that I´ve seen about 7 times and I´ve been trying to talk to him, but he was always outside the train or colectivo when I was inside or vise versa or on a bike, or I didn´t see him until he was already far away. He´s your classic Bob Marley type, total hippie, but very white. We have an appointment with him this week. I won´t be there, but I´ll be praying that hermana binks will be able to invite him to come unto Christ and Help him receive the restored gospel. He's a really great person, I´m just sad I won´t get to teach him. Silvie has decided that for now she doesn´t want to spend time learning about the gospel, which broke my heart. You get so close to people as a missionary and you see their lives changing and then something happens and they don´t want to learn. I know that her desire will return. We´ve found a lot of new people who have desires to learn and we have finally been able to enter homes that we thus far haven´t been able to. I love my ward and I will miss them.
This I´ve learned about myself
I´m observant - this week on the colectivo I was watching a couple and the man indicated with his eyes to his girlfriend to look outside. So I followed his gaze and saw a model t ford. so I... love that era and started talking to them about classic cars, and was able to morph the conversation into gospel related topics. It was great fun. Then later - again in colectivo - there were two kids probably around 18 or twenty. One was carrying the body of a drum set in his back pack and the other was carrying the top hat - I, having a little experience in band from my not so recent college days, asked them ¨¿ustedes dos tocan battaría?¨ do you both play drums? And we talked about music and then what I was doing here and then we taught them about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love talking to people - they are so interesting. The other thing that I´ve noticed this week is as I pray for the ability to speak to and understand people the Lord blesses me. This week no one asked me where I was from. Just my companion and then when they figured out I was from the states they commented that they thought I was Argentine. It made me very happy.
My time is running short in many ways. And I feel like a race horse. On the track there is a bell that is rung when there is only one lap left. This tells the horse to run harder and faster than they ever have before. This is me. When ever I feel tired and like my heart is about to burst I think about that bell and I rely on my Father in Heaven who is giving me the strength and energy I need to serve with everything that I have and more.
I love you all
smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, July 30, 2012
Blessings!
Ok so I have about ten minutes to write, let's see how it goes. This week was great! To catch the colectivos (buses) we had to run after all of them, its pretty fun running across the road and jumping random piles of trash to catch a moving object, but it's all worth it knowing that you´ll have to wait another half hour for the next one. We are working with a couple of families from Peru and I love seeing them as they act on the invitation to read, ponder, and pray about the things that we are teaching. You can see in their eyes the change that the gospel is already making for them, and they aren´t even members yet. Silvie is a girl who is searching really earnestly to know if this really is what she is looking for. The gospel makes us happy and it is bringing happiness to her and her sisters and mother. We are praying that as she comes closer to Christ she will understand who she is as a daughter of our loving Heavenly Father.
We did another visitors center this past Saturday. We went to Matheu in the zona Escobar. When we weren´t doing the tour my companion and I went outside to invite people to come and see what there was to see. For a split second I had a birds eye view and I watched myself with amazement walking up to complete strangers and talking to them like we had known each other forever. The changes I see in myself astound me. As the people I teach change and grow, I do too. We invited 3 young men to come and do the tour, they said they didn´t believe in God or Christ, but then figured they´d give it a try. The missionaries in that area set up appointments to go teach each of them. You can see when a desire to believe is in a person's eyes.
Last but not least. Today we had the great blessing of going to the temple here in Buenos Aires. There are 3 missions here in this province. Each of them with about 180 missionaries. 25 missionaries from each mission were selected to participate in the open house of the temple before its dedication on the 9th of September. There will be 3 weeks when the temple here will be open to the public, and my companion and I have the opportunity to help those who come to the temple understand the importance of that sacred place. I´m so excited. I love the temple so much. It truly is the house of God. When we entered its doors today, I felt as if I was entering the doors of my own home, as His daughter. I´m so grateful to be a missionary here at this time under these circumstances. I love you all and I invite you to prepare yourselves to attend the temple and Go. For it is one of the best places to learn what God has waiting to teach you.
Smile - Hermana Milmont
Monday, July 23, 2012
Soap
One of the marvelous parts of being a missionary is that you rarely get to wash your hands...well that's not entirely true...where there is a will there is a way. I wash my hands every chance I have which accumulates to about twice a day...three times if I'm suuuuper lucky. Now there are three vital ingredients to this process: Water, Time, and Soap. Without water, you have a film of sticky stuff on your hands, without soap you simply have wet hands. And any process takes time to be truly effective. Every night when we get home I wash my hands very thoroughly with all three because I understand what happens. Not because my parents taught me (which they did :) but because I have experimented with it myself. Do you want to know what color the water is which runs off of my hands with the soapy suds? It's black. Pretty great, huh? And I have to wash frequently, it's not a one time thing. I like to compare this to the atonement of Jesus Christ and the repentance process. We have some tools that help in the process - we control whether or not we choose to accept the blessings of the atonement. We do what we can to get rid of whatever sin or weakness we have. Just like I have to make a conscious effort to wash my hands, walk to the sink, turn on the water, and submerse my hands. It takes faith to go to the Lord and ask Him for help and submerse ourselves in His will. Next we have the soap. It is this key ingredient that makes the small effort we make to walk to the sink worth our time. The soap cleanses us and we are left with a sense of peace and security knowing that our health is protected (side note - here in Argentina there are many brands of soap that don't do anything - I like to call them "trucho" - which basically means counterfeit, fake, invalid) Christ is the cleaning agent for our sins, weaknesses, and trials. We cannot go to just anyone to receive forgiveness - that can only come through preparing for and partaking of the sacrament each Sunday which is how we use the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that is how we apply the sacrifice that He made for each of us individually. The final ingredient is time. I feel that it's probably the hardest part of the process. My parents taught me when I was little to sing twinkle twinkle little star, or the abc's as I washed and that would ensure that my hands were in the soap and water long enough. It's hard to stand still that long as a little kid. We are like children spiritually, and it's hard to truly give enough of our time to the Savior as He helps us become clean. And it gets frustrating because we seem to need His help over and over and over again. Similarly, we have a constant need to wash our hands, the bacteria sometimes is the same, but varies regularly I'm sure (I'm not a Doctor so don't be too hard on my analogy:) It's ok to mess up, that is why Christ came, but it's vital that we know to whom we must turn and do it quickly. He is waiting. I invite you all to read Enos chapter 1 and ponder in your hearts how you can apply this incredible gift that your older brother has given to you. I love you all. Think good thoughts and good acts will follow.
Smile - Hermana Milmont
Smile - Hermana Milmont
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