At this point I have become accustomed to the climate and the people, different customs and lots of... subir.. hiking, climbing? We work on a mountain face, therefore I receive my share of exercise. One day, this past week, we were crossing what had been a puddle, but had since frozen over... of so I thought. I thought wrong, the ice broke, and my left leg, up to my knee was thoroughly soaked. Luckily we only had 2 hours left until our day was over. But that's not all. We had a great lesson with a family, and an appointment set for the next day. We left the home and I was so excited! Not thinking (it was dark at this point) I ran down to the road, and of all places to plant my foot, a large puddle was the prime candidate. You would think I would learn my lesson. It was valuable, and I plan to proceed with more caution.
As I was pondering this experience I thought of the phrase ¨knee deep¨. It is the first part in becoming immersed in anything. For the past few months of my life I have been knee deep in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Children of God. I decided somewhat recently that knee deep is not enough. I need to be completely submerged in the work of the Lord. I need to be 100% focused on those that the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel. Each soul has the right to receive it and these moments of service in ushuaia are precious. My calling is to give them that chance. Since understanding this, I have been able to open my mouth and forget my shortcomings.
I know that through My Savior, Jesus Christ, I can and will conquer all of life's challenges. Through Him, I can repent, improve, grow and return to live with my Father in Heaven. God loves each of us and for that reason He called a prophet, Joseph Smith to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ once more upon the earth. That same prophet translated the Book of Mormon, which testifies that Jesus is the Christ, and that through His Gospel; faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end - each of Gods children can be save. We have a living prophet today - Tomas S. Monson - who carries out the will of the Lord here on the earth. I love this Gospel and the opportunity to share it.
Sonreí - Hna. Milmont
Monday, August 1, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Bueno, Vamos a Lavar los Platos
We experienced a great miracle this week with one of the families that we are working with. We have been teaching two of the daughters who are members but have not been to church in a long time. Their father is a member but their mother is not. And the spirit in the home is tense for the majority of the time. But yesterday we had an appointment to teach in their house. Almost everyone was home, and they were all distracted with various things. They weren’t interested in listening... so we asked what if they needed help with anything.
Generally when we ask this, people say, "no hermanas, todo esta bien." Which is ridiculous, because we are here to serve... anywho, Stef said we could do the dishes!!!!! We were stoked because there were a ton of dishes; I doubt they had been washed in the last 3 weeks. As we worked, one by one, the children joined in cleaning and we could feel the tension dissipate, the house started to feel like a home as we were all unified. We cleaned the entire room (the kitchen, living room, dinning room, are basically the same. There’s a lot crammed in there, therefore, there’s a lot of potential for clutter). When we finished, the entire family gathered around the table to hear our message about the Love of God and how much he wants to communicate with His children. He does this as we pray, read the scriptures and attend church. We Challenged each of them to read a verse a day, and they all said yes... except for the mom, but she invited us to eat dinner with them, which has never happened before. She never liked the missionaries; however we are going over to paint on Wednesday!
It is such a testimony to me that people can feel the love of God and of Jesus Christ as we serve. The parents of this family did not want anything to do with us prior to this experience, but they saw our actions and realized that they aren’t a project. They are Children of God and we are here because we love them. In the Book of Mormon, we learn about Ammon and how his service affected kind Lamoni. So great was the impact that he began to be ¨Astonished¨ (In all the Book of Mormon, that phrase only appears in Alma 17 and 18, I challenge you to study those chapters) Like King Lamoni and his servants, this Family was astonished, and the spirit touched their hearts.
Things are looking up from the bottom of the world;) I pray that all of you are doing well. Always look for the miracles in your life, and remember them. Seek for opportunities to help God work miracles in the lives of others. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei Vos - Hna. Mimont
Generally when we ask this, people say, "no hermanas, todo esta bien." Which is ridiculous, because we are here to serve... anywho, Stef said we could do the dishes!!!!! We were stoked because there were a ton of dishes; I doubt they had been washed in the last 3 weeks. As we worked, one by one, the children joined in cleaning and we could feel the tension dissipate, the house started to feel like a home as we were all unified. We cleaned the entire room (the kitchen, living room, dinning room, are basically the same. There’s a lot crammed in there, therefore, there’s a lot of potential for clutter). When we finished, the entire family gathered around the table to hear our message about the Love of God and how much he wants to communicate with His children. He does this as we pray, read the scriptures and attend church. We Challenged each of them to read a verse a day, and they all said yes... except for the mom, but she invited us to eat dinner with them, which has never happened before. She never liked the missionaries; however we are going over to paint on Wednesday!
It is such a testimony to me that people can feel the love of God and of Jesus Christ as we serve. The parents of this family did not want anything to do with us prior to this experience, but they saw our actions and realized that they aren’t a project. They are Children of God and we are here because we love them. In the Book of Mormon, we learn about Ammon and how his service affected kind Lamoni. So great was the impact that he began to be ¨Astonished¨ (In all the Book of Mormon, that phrase only appears in Alma 17 and 18, I challenge you to study those chapters) Like King Lamoni and his servants, this Family was astonished, and the spirit touched their hearts.
Things are looking up from the bottom of the world;) I pray that all of you are doing well. Always look for the miracles in your life, and remember them. Seek for opportunities to help God work miracles in the lives of others. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei Vos - Hna. Mimont
Monday, July 18, 2011
El Fin del Mundo
The phone call from the office Elders came as a bit of a shock last Monday. I was fairly certain I would be in Tigre for the entire transfer (the mission is divided into 6 week periods, each period is called a transfer and there was only 2 weeks left in the transfer). I left at 4:30 Tuesday morning and spent the next 14 traveling to la Tierra del Fuego. I have no clue why it’s called that, fuego means fire, and it is definitely not warm here. But I can drink the water, so that’s exciting:) My new Companion is Hermana Gonzalez. She hails from Chile and has 7 months is the mission, I already have 3.5! Crazy how time flies. It’s gorgeous here and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve the people here. Black ice is everywhere and we’re always climbing, therefore my most recent temporal goal is to maintain my footing.
This morning I was studying in 1 Nephi chapter 15 verse 11. There are three brothers, Laman, Lemuel and Nephi, in a tent. The first two are trying to figure out what their dad just said. Sometimes I feel that way, like I don’t have a clue. Many times we are told things and we do not understand what was meant. We are prompted to do something and we don’t know why. We have rules that we don’t understand. And it’s easy to lose sight of the main purpose of these things. It’s easy to get distracted and forget the blessings of God in our lives. But because we have a loving Heavenly Father, we have the opportunity to repent and try again. Nephi tells us that we need to remember to keep the commandments so that when we ask for help, for clarification, for strength, for the ability to focus, and for the knowledge to be effective instruments in the Lords hands, we can receive these things.
There are 9 hours of light here, and my trial is staying focused when it’s dark, because we are out working in the dark. We’re exercising and getting ready from 7am-8am. Studying from 8am-11am. Out working from 11am -10pm and lights out at 11pm. The life of a missionary is definitely a handful. But when we focus on the people we are teaching, the time goes quick. And we lose ourselves. It’s an incredible feeling, its 10 o’clock and the day is gone, but more people have the gospel because we were focused. When we see the big picture, when we understand our purpose in this life, we can feel secure. I love it here, I love the people, I love the work, I love God and I love you. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei - Hna. Milmont
This morning I was studying in 1 Nephi chapter 15 verse 11. There are three brothers, Laman, Lemuel and Nephi, in a tent. The first two are trying to figure out what their dad just said. Sometimes I feel that way, like I don’t have a clue. Many times we are told things and we do not understand what was meant. We are prompted to do something and we don’t know why. We have rules that we don’t understand. And it’s easy to lose sight of the main purpose of these things. It’s easy to get distracted and forget the blessings of God in our lives. But because we have a loving Heavenly Father, we have the opportunity to repent and try again. Nephi tells us that we need to remember to keep the commandments so that when we ask for help, for clarification, for strength, for the ability to focus, and for the knowledge to be effective instruments in the Lords hands, we can receive these things.
There are 9 hours of light here, and my trial is staying focused when it’s dark, because we are out working in the dark. We’re exercising and getting ready from 7am-8am. Studying from 8am-11am. Out working from 11am -10pm and lights out at 11pm. The life of a missionary is definitely a handful. But when we focus on the people we are teaching, the time goes quick. And we lose ourselves. It’s an incredible feeling, its 10 o’clock and the day is gone, but more people have the gospel because we were focused. When we see the big picture, when we understand our purpose in this life, we can feel secure. I love it here, I love the people, I love the work, I love God and I love you. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei - Hna. Milmont
Monday, July 11, 2011
Go and DO!
The irony of a mission is that you do soooo many things in so little time, that you don’t really know what to share. So many miracles happened this week. And I want to share them all, but I don’t have the time. Don’t worry; I’m being faithful to my journal.
This week we taught several people that had not wanted anything to do with us for the past forever. Patricia was one of those. This week we were on our way to an appointment in her neighborhood, and we stopped just to say hi. And instead of brushing us off, she invited us in to talk. It was amazing how her attitude different her attitude was.
One thing we do as missionaries is listen. As we listen we can understand the person more fully and learn which aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that they need at that moment. EVERY time they say something that the Gospel relates to, Every time. Whether it be how much they love their families or how they are looking for hope I this sad world. They many not say what they are looking for. But we can know because they will speak of what’s important to them. And as we spoke together we found so many things that we could testify of. She spoke the most about healing, and how Christ heals his people.
This is something that I love. I know that Christ heals us. As we Repent and use the Atonement we are healed. When we were finished with our visit we invited her to come to church with us. And she seemed really excited about it. We asked if we could call her on Sunday morning to wake them up so they’d be ready when we arrived. They said of course. And as we left they said ¨see you Sunday¨
Fast forward: it is Sunday morning, we are walking to their home, and we call to wake them up. Her son answers and says she is not home. My heart sinks. At this moment we had to decide whether to go anyway or start walking to church. This is not a proud moment for me. One of my companions thought Patrica was home, and that we should go anyway. I however, did not want to show up at their house and no one be there.
In Moroni chapter 7 it talks a lot about the spirit of God and how its invites us to do good continually. Conversely the spirit of the Devil invites us to not do good continually. At that moment Satan was inviting me to NOT go to their house. And I was falling for it. But we were all torn so I suggested that we pray. After which, I still wanted to not go. Luckily my companions are better than I (I’m learning) and they decided that we needed to go to her home. So we did.
Apparently after her son hung up, she asked him who it was, and was upset that he did not give her the phone. She was sick, which was his reasoning. But she still wanted to come. And when we showed up, she was excited. We waited for her to get ready, then she, and 2 of her daughters came with us to church. I’m so grateful for my companions and their ability to DO good.
Ironically, we three were speaking in church yesterday, and yours truly spoke on the atonement and healing.
So my Goal is to always do as the Spirit directs. And it’s easy to know. Good thoughts come from God and Good things happen when we take action.
I love you all, and I pray that you are safe. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei vos - Hermana Milmont
This week we taught several people that had not wanted anything to do with us for the past forever. Patricia was one of those. This week we were on our way to an appointment in her neighborhood, and we stopped just to say hi. And instead of brushing us off, she invited us in to talk. It was amazing how her attitude different her attitude was.
One thing we do as missionaries is listen. As we listen we can understand the person more fully and learn which aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that they need at that moment. EVERY time they say something that the Gospel relates to, Every time. Whether it be how much they love their families or how they are looking for hope I this sad world. They many not say what they are looking for. But we can know because they will speak of what’s important to them. And as we spoke together we found so many things that we could testify of. She spoke the most about healing, and how Christ heals his people.
This is something that I love. I know that Christ heals us. As we Repent and use the Atonement we are healed. When we were finished with our visit we invited her to come to church with us. And she seemed really excited about it. We asked if we could call her on Sunday morning to wake them up so they’d be ready when we arrived. They said of course. And as we left they said ¨see you Sunday¨
Fast forward: it is Sunday morning, we are walking to their home, and we call to wake them up. Her son answers and says she is not home. My heart sinks. At this moment we had to decide whether to go anyway or start walking to church. This is not a proud moment for me. One of my companions thought Patrica was home, and that we should go anyway. I however, did not want to show up at their house and no one be there.
In Moroni chapter 7 it talks a lot about the spirit of God and how its invites us to do good continually. Conversely the spirit of the Devil invites us to not do good continually. At that moment Satan was inviting me to NOT go to their house. And I was falling for it. But we were all torn so I suggested that we pray. After which, I still wanted to not go. Luckily my companions are better than I (I’m learning) and they decided that we needed to go to her home. So we did.
Apparently after her son hung up, she asked him who it was, and was upset that he did not give her the phone. She was sick, which was his reasoning. But she still wanted to come. And when we showed up, she was excited. We waited for her to get ready, then she, and 2 of her daughters came with us to church. I’m so grateful for my companions and their ability to DO good.
Ironically, we three were speaking in church yesterday, and yours truly spoke on the atonement and healing.
So my Goal is to always do as the Spirit directs. And it’s easy to know. Good thoughts come from God and Good things happen when we take action.
I love you all, and I pray that you are safe. ¡Nos Vemos!
Sonrei vos - Hermana Milmont
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