W41: Feliz Navidad

So 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 which we didn't have time to practice but it all worked out. It feels good to come together as a stake to focus on the Savior. The devotional was really good.

This week we did a blitz with our faithful APs. It was actually my 3rd intercambio with Elder Parronchi. He was my zone leader back in my first sector and it was really fun to work with him. We were speed walking in the rain to go and hit all the houses we had planned. 

President also came to do interviews. Always a win because he buys lunch for us and we always get good advice. We ended up getting Papa Johns so everyone was pretty content. Our area doesn't always get the most hype so we talked about how we can motivate missionaries and remember that areas aren't harder but just different.  

We were walking around doing our missionary work and we stop in front of a random house to check something on our phones and all of the sudden this white blonde women walks out and asks "Are you lost" but she does it in broken English. So I just think "oh great, another NPC just spawned in to make fun of our Spanish" but then she keeps talking and saying things in Spanish. Turns out her name is Norma, she's from Canada, and was visiting her Member friend down here in Chile. So we proceeded to have a full blown conversation in English. She actually served a mission in Salt Lake City East. That was just kinda a wild cross over episode. 

Thats pretty much it. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas. We are going to our bishops house for Christmas.  I might buy myself a card game or something. Or maybe bacon to make on Christmas morning. Who knows.  

It's an awesome time to serve the Savior and think of others.  I had an experience this week where the Lord showed us a family's need which they couldn't resolve on their own. We were able to be a part of the solution to help them which was really humbling. On the mission and really in life helping others is really a lot better than anything else we can accomplish.  In the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional Elder Palmer said, "More precious than gold, frankincense or myrrh, pure testimony of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Redeemer is the very center of all that we celebrate at Christmas." 

I hope everyone feels love this Christmas season.  

Love, 

Elder McMillan 









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