Elder Scott McMillan

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...

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 wi...

Hello from Mexico. Today is my first P-day so I decided to write an email. Life is pretty good in the MTC. We get a lot of  food here, and the weather is great. I just wear my short sleeve shirts and my black pants. The Mexican food is good but the American food they try to make is a little sub par.  There is a track here and my companion and I started running a little bit. I thought it would be a lot easier (I forgot that the MTC is at like 7200 feet). I tried running and I felt like I was going to die. I ended up running a mile and it felt like way longer Me and my companion are now zone leaders because we are the only Elders left in our ¨zone¨ The other elders are leaving, and our new elders have only been here for like 3 days. Now we need to hold down the fort I guess.  It's a little weird that I am supposed to be finishing up high school right now but instead I am learning Spanish in the middle of Mexico city. Mexico city is a pretty crazy place. Apparently ther...

 Scott had a flight at 5:30AM from Oakland to Salt Lake.  He was meeting Elders and Hermanas in Salt Lake to head to Mexico.  Kira and Tyler wanted to go with us and we all stood there and watched as Scott got through TSA.  First miracle of the mission is they cut him through TSA so he didn't miss his flight.  I thought we were all going to be way more sad than we were but I was actually excited for him.  Being able to talk once a week is a game changer.  I knew that he was going to have a great time and couldn't be doing anything better in these two years. It is crazy to think we won't see each other for 2 years and that Scott and Tyler might not see each other in 3.5 years if he goes on his mission before Scott get backs. It will be fun to see how much he grows and changes and what a blessing we can face time every week. We sure will miss him but are so excited and proud of him!

Home MTC started at 6:30AM because everyone else was on Mountain Standard time. That also meant that it ended at 3:30PM so it left a lot of time after hours his zoom meetings to do various things.   Morning Zoom meetings were Preach My Gospel or gospel learning and afternoon was Spanish Class.   Scott preferred Spanish classes.  He liked to do "home tours" which he brought people around the home telling them everything in Spanish. It was a great way to get to know your District.  Day 1 he was companions with an Elder going to Puerto Montt but on Day 2 they put him into a breakout room and told him he was moving districts to a more advanced speaking Spanish class.  His 1st district had zero Spanish experience. He said group chats would go crazy.  Anytime anyone said where they were from, missionaries would talk about how that was close to home, their home or had a relative from that area. It was nice that at some larger devotionals you could eat wh...

Scott received his endowment the morning of his farewell party.  Lindsey and Richard came up from Fresno to go through the temple with him which was so thoughtful and meant a lot.  They go out of their way to always be present and mean so much to us and our kids.  When I got to the temple, I realized my recommend expired 2 days earlier.  I even looked at it the previous week and saw 2024...not realizing it was 2024.  On my way home, I felt peace knowing the thing that really mattered is that covenants bind our family together forever.  I was just so proud of Scott and the decisions he was making and looked forward to making temple attendance a life-long pursuit with my family. Scott had a great experience and said that it was really cool going through the temple.    

2/25/2024 FAREWELL TALK Good morning brothers and sisters. I have been called to serve in the Puerto Montt Chile mission. My mission is so far south that in one of my areas there will be more penguins than people.  I will start home MTC next Monday, March 4th. Then I will depart for the Mexico MTC on march 13th for 6 weeks of jam packed missionary training. I then leave the MTC for the mission field on April 19th. I am super excited to serve the people of Chile and it will definitely be an adventure.  Before I go any further I want to take some time to thank some people. First I want to Thank my seminary teachers. A lot of the time I was only thinking about how early I had to get to seminary I didn’t actually realize that they had to get there earlier.  I want to thank Brother Cropper, and Brother Harlow who put up with a lot of black screens and muted mics on zoom. Brother Williamson who would always try his best to get us in the mood for a spiritual discussion at 6 in t...

THE CALL We were in Utah for Thanksgiving when Scott got his mission call.  He told people to come to his grandparents home that night to open his call. Reading and opening the call to Puerto Montt Chile. Love the emotion these portray! Everyone was so excited for him and you could feel the excitement on his face. MISSION PRESIDENT Scott will have two mission Presidents.  President Gervic and his wife will preside over the mission for the first year of his mission since they serve for 3 years. His setting apart talked about how his mission president will become a close friend and guiding force in his life and a special bond that will be a blessing throughout his life. Cristian J. Gervic and Patricia Gervic, three children, Bosquemar Ward, San Pedro Chile Stake. President Gervic was born in Chuquicamata, Chile and Sister Gervic was born in Playa Ancha, Chile. MISSION MAP Scott immediately noticed Puerto Montt mission is really long and really far South. I wouldn't be surprised ...