Elder Scott McMillan

           Hello everybody. Hope you all are well and had an amazing week!  We had a pretty crazy week this week because we had a zone conference which is where a bunch of missionaries get together to learn and grow in our missionary efforts. That means we had to travel up to Puerto Montt.  We started that journey on Wednesday night. It took 1.5 hours on bus to get to Castro to meet up with other Elders on our island. We ended up playing a bunch of cards and went to bed kinda late.  It was fun until we had to wake up at 5AM, which was actually too late to catch our bus so we sprinted through this city as fast as we could to get to our bus on time.  At 6AM we were running full speed in suits through this city which wasn't fun because it was pouring rain.  We got to the bus on time and I proceeded to take a 3 hour power nap because I am a master of sleeping while traveling now. I can sleep whenever and wherever I need which is a talent I've acquired as a missionary. We went to Zo

Hellooooooo  OK what's going on you guys....I'm back with another email. This was my first full week in the field and it has been a ot of walking around trying to find people to talk to.  We didn't really know a lot of people in the area since we were both new. The only way to try and get to know them was to walk to their houses and try and get to know them. And because I live in a place that rains all the time, that means walking in the rain a lot!  Like it rains everyday. So a lot of my days are spent walking around in the rain trying to find people to teach about Jesus.  The rain would be worse but I wear a waterproof coat every time I leave the house with at least 3 layers, my waterproof boots and waterproof backpack.  We don't use an umbrella and usually stay pretty dry. My pocket size scriptures sometimes get wet when I take them out of my pocket so I dry them when I get home. If anything the extra layers just make me look a lot more buff so I'm hoping I won&#

Hey all. This is me and my trainer, Elder Garlick.  He is a great trainer and super cool. I made it to Chile and I made it to my area. So now we are all standing on opposite sides of the earth. I guess if the earth was flat I would officially be on the other side. I was told it was a myth that the toilets swirl the other way so that's kinda a bummer.  Anyways I am in a town called Quellón. It is on an island and is about a 5.5 hour bus ride from Puerto Montt. It is a town full of salmon fisherman. I think it is one of the biggest salmon exporters in the world.  So a little about my travel and how I miraculously ended up in Chile. It started on Thursday morning (more like the middle of Wednesday night). At 2:15AM I woke up and with my 2 50lbs suitcases and with all of my worldly possessions I set off for the airport. It was the only time I had driven through Mexico City with no traffic and our driver was speeding through the city. My mind might have also been playing some tricks on

Scott didn't get a chance to write an email yet this week and might be not able to since he kind of lost a P-day during his travels. But we got to talk to him when he was in Santiago and he sent a message letting us know he arrived in Puerto Montt. Here's a recap from Heidi.... Scott's time came to an end in the CCM! He had a great time with District 9A and loved all the new friends he met. An experience he'll cherish forever. He started his journey to his new location (for at least 6 weeks in Chile) on Thursday. THURSDAY....1AM departure for the Mexico City Airport. 9 hour flight to Santiago. Ate dinner and stayed at a hotel in Santiago with 3 other missionaries from the CCM. We talked to him that night and he was excited and felt very weird being alone in a hotel room and charging dinner to their room/mission. We finally said good-night around 9PM our time, 12AM his time. He must have been tired but was awesome to see him so excited! FRIDAY....He went to the

This is me and Hermano Meranda (my teacher). I was able to go through the temple for his uncle who died when we was 8 due to leukemia.  We believe that everyone will be able to choose to accept saving ordinances. He went through for his grandpa and Elder Brossard for his other Uncle who died when he fell off a ladder.   I am finishing up my last week of the CCM.   So that pretty much means that I am fluent in Spanish now (JK....I still have a long way to go and I still need to learn how to use the subjunctive). Maybe I'll be able to understand at least 50% of a sacrament meeting. Either way I get to go to Chile this Thursday leaving the CCM at 1AM and I am super excited. My mom heard we stay in Santiago on Thursday and then get on a flight the next day to Puerto Montt where our mission home is.  We shall see. It will be an adventure.   We had a solar eclipse this Monday. It was pretty cool from Mexico. We ended up getting like 75% coverage of the sun and it was definitely less brig

I've officially been a missionary for over a month now and boy does time fly. I am trying to enjoy each day and live in the moment.  I got my flight information for Chile. I fly out of Mexico City at 550AM in about 2 weeks and have a 9 hour flight down to Santiago. After that I think we either take a bus or another flight down to Puerto Montt.  It will probably end up being like a full 36 hour travel thing. Because my flight leaves at 5AM, we have to be at the Bus at 1AM. It is going to be a long day of travel. ( Heidi here who did some research on this. My mind is blown.  Did you know traveling from the North to South of Chile is the same as going from the East to West of the United States? Chile is 2650 miles long, which is 250 miles less than traveling across the States. It takes 12+ hours by car from Santiago to Puerto Montt (the northernmost part of his mission) and 4 hours by plane so guessing it will not be a car ride to Puerto Montt. Depending on where he serves , it could