Elder Scott McMillan

Yo so what's up squad. Honestly this week was like a kinda chopped week because of Christmas. But it actually ended up being a pretty good week.  For Christmas it was like really hot out and probably not the most ideal time to go out to proselyte. Either I have gotten used to the cooler weather or the UV rays down here really make it hotter. Elder Benson and I decided that we where going to try and make cookies for a bunch of members then go deliver them on Christmas. Christmas morning we baked some cookies and it was pretty smooth sailing.  Followed a recipe from my dad and then quickly realized they use the metric system so the measurements were different so we had to eyeball some things but hey it all worked out. We also didn't have a blender so we had to hand mix it all. My forearms were on fire by the end up the baking experience. As we were making the cookie dough the oven was pre-heating and essentially heating our super tiny apartment into a sauna. So the oven was not ...

S o somehow this week is Christmas and I don't really know where the time went or how we've gotten to this point. That also means we are actually entering summer so I am wearing short sleeves and sunscreen now.  We had a stake Christmas devotional. And the stake here is pretty small or about the size of what a healthy ward. There were about 150 people that were able to come.  It is hard for a lot of people to travel in our sector because a lot of people don't have a car.  The stake decided to do it outside since we are in summer. They put up a giant tarp to block the sun which was a really great idea so we didn't die of heat stroke.  Sadly the the metal fence the tarp was attached to began to bend. Like literally started to sway in the wind and halfway through the devotional a lot of people switched seats out of fear of the 15 foot fence falling down. But that didn't happen and didn't stop the devotional and all the missionary's nailed our musical number whi...

  I've decided my sector might just be part of the Truman Show but like pt 2 called the McMillan show.  Some of the people here might be paid actors.  This week while walking two guys on the side of the road started a conversation with us asking us where we were from. They then proceeded to split us off so one was talking to me and the other to my Comp. My conversation was pretty chill, but apparently the other guy told my companion that the only reason he is here is because he was brainwashed and doesn't actually live his own life and stuff. Pretty much told him to "Eat, drink and Be merry" (2 Nephi 28:7) By that point we just cut off the conversation by seeing if they wanted to read a flyer, then all of the sudden they get this huge rush and need to suddenly leave. So that's how we took care of them.  I got to do a intercambio with Elder Duryea this week. He's in the second cambio of his training. And man I do not envy being at the start of the mission. I me...

So this week was a little chaotic. I feel like I say that for a lot but this week was actually a week full of sidequests. We had a Multi-Zone Conference planned for Friday. So we spent time working with a companionship of Hermanas to make a presentation for our zone at Zone Conference. But it was also a special Christmas conference so we had to prepare a Christmas skit to do with our zone that we were going to perform at the end of the conference. Anddd we got a text from the Hermanas that we were going to direct the conference and that they wanted the Elders in our zone to do a special musical number... So we just start plugging away, getting our work done and letting the Elders know that we are going to sing Silent Night which they were not excited to sing! Then on Thursday, the day before the conference, we got a call from the Zone Leaders in Valdivia who were supposed to host the conference and they said that there was a dead body in their chapel so we were going to have to mov...

Pretty crazy week ngl. I mean some of the weeks of the mission were starting to feel like repeats of all the other weeks. Pretty much like groundhog day but it was groundhog week. But this week something unexpected happened every day.  I was able to do 2 intercambios this week. Which means that we switch companions for 24 hours to get to know the other missionaries and how they like to work. I went with Elder Revilla and Elder Rubilar. Elder Revilla is originally from Venezuela but moved to Santiago Chile when he was 11 to escape the crazy of Venezuela. He's a super cool guy and we ended up making arepas for dinner. They are like the staple food item of Venezuela. You make them with a special type of flour and lots of salt. They turned out really good. So while you were eating Turkey all week, I was eating arepas.  Also got to go to his sector which is a little town like an hour away from the city I am in. And I probably got one of the best photos of my mission so far.  Shout ou...