W12: Juan



 Hello All!

This week was a lot of the same ole same ole but it was a little different. We had intercambios again so I got to have another sleepover in Castro but this time I was paired with our righteous District Leader, Elder Neilson, who is also a super cool guy. 

He was a runner in high school so we ended up going on a run in the morning for our physical exercise. It was a pretty good run (shoutout to Coach Eric and Delta Limitless for the training)! It awakened the competitive dawg in me a little bit when Elder Nielson wanted to race up a hill. 

Funny thing about the Elders in Castro is that they have a dog that follows them around and sleeps under their house. They don't feed it but it has claimed them as their owners even though we are not allowed to have pets. Its name is Juan. We joke that they are a trio and Juan the dog is actually the apostle John because he never died. It's funny that they have a dog that follows them around everywhere. 

Other than that it was a pretty normal week. We tried a fire new Yerba. Yerba is the stuff that you use to make Mate.  This yerba was flavored with a really strong mint and it almost makes your mouth feel cold even tho the water is super hot. 

Me and Elder Garlick got a little sick this weekend and no it wasn't the mate!  I think I just had a little cold but Elder Garlick was having some pretty serious stomach pains so we had to cancel some lessons so he could rest. I just ended up doing some studying and cleaning the house. 

For everyone wanting an update on the homeless guy that harassed us.....He is actually our friend now. We were walking and he came out of nowhere and just told us that he needed friends. So we are now friends. Better to be friends than enemies. So now we are chill with him and grateful we are friends. 

Today for P-day we ended up traveling up to Castro to have a BBQ with the other elders in our zone. It was pretty fun. An Elder from Brazil ended up grilling us some meat so technically I had an authentic  Brazilian Feast. The meat was pretty good. Then we just played some card games and enjoyed each others company. Not to brag or anything but I did win the game of BANG!! Only the real ones will remember playing that game at Scout Camp. Shout out to my scouts and leaders who helped me hone my skills!  

I also ended up buying a guitar. I am super stoked about that. Time to start learning how to play. I have no idea how to play but I'm hoping that my piano knowledge will help out a little bit. I'll keep you updated on the guitar skills. 

Anyways we are going on a blitz tonight. Essentially all 20 missionaries in the zone are going to go and knock a bunch of doors in the same area. We are going to try and knock all the doors in a certain area and hopefully find people who want to learn about Christ. It will be fun because then we get to go sleep on some inflatable mattress in some other elders house. Yes that is considered fun on the mission, especially when you are the elders who live hours away from others.  

We had another English lesson which is our time to share parables.  I shared the story of David and Goliath. I shared that David needed to have confidence in himself in order to take down Goliath. He not only had to have faith in God but also had to have faith in his sling. It goes to show how powerful confidence can be. I've found on my mission that when I speak with confidence, I am able to speak better Spanish. When I start to doubt my Spanish, then I start to struggle.

A lot of the time it can be easy to not have confidence in ourselves. But we are a lot more capable than we think. Next time you don't think your good enough just have confidence in yourself and go for it. When you ask for help from others and from God, you will be even more capable.  Thats my spiritual message of the week. 

Anyways love you all and hope you have a good week. Sorry if the emails a little bit shorter. I had a little bit less time because we had to go to Castro. 

Love, Elder McMillan

Pics Don't need much explaining.  Introducing Juan and my new guitar.  




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NORTHGATE SWIM SENIOR DAY

Image
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...
Read more

W3: 3/18/2024 - MEXICO CCM

Image
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...
Read more

W7: Quellon, Chileo Islands

Image
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 ...
Read more