Elder Scott McMillan

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

3/27/2024  Scott thought he would miss swim the most leaving before his senior year.  When I talked to him yesterday he said as much as it would have been cool to try to win an individual event at NCS, he doesn't miss it too much. He said Bailey helped because she said in the the long run it doesn't really matter if you win or not. It was really awesome that they included him in Senior Night. Diego was there to cheer on Mason and Daniel and we recruited him to be Scott.  His introduction at the meet.. "Introducing Scott McMillan who is e scorted tonight by God and his missionary companion. His f avorite stroke is anything 50 yards or less. He s tarted swimming in the womb.  His f avorite high school swim memories include Taco Tuesdays, counting for Mason, Being State Champ with his boys, sporting amazing mullets, garbage can ice baths, and of course being coached by legendary Coach Jeff Mellinger.  His p ost High School plans include taking a swimming sabbatical. He is cur

I've been on my mission for almost a month now. I think I'm almost 4% done. Low key most of the days feel the same but it's alright.  I wish I could talk more about Mexico City but really we call the MTC the "Carcel" (Jail). There are actually a striking number of similarities between the MTC and Jail.  1. Everyone wakes up and goes to sleep at the same time (630AM and 1030PM)  2. There is a dress code that is strictly observed. White Shirt and Tie is required  3. Three meals a day guaranteed in a cafeteria with really dull knives  4. A huge 20 foot wall that goes all around the campus with barbed wire at the top  5. Limited communication with the outside world  6. Opportunities to better your education (Spanish Class)  7. Scheduled gym time  It's really more for our safety but it is still a little weird sometimes. I really enjoy my Spanish class. Most of the time it just turns into us talking in Spanish. I can communicate pretty well with the people here but