Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!!!

Hello all!  We have another Pday (preparation day)  because it is not likely for us to have much success teaching on this holiday.  My companion and I are in Funes right now hanging out with Hermana Collins from Oregon and Hermana Tourtillout from Kansas (Tourtillout and I traveled together on the plane here).  We just finished playing some basketball, and later tonight Hermana Gerratt and I are going to watch a church movie and eat dinner with one of our investigators in the chapel.  

This week was pretty spectacular.  We decided to go visit a less active family, whose father we normally chat with, but this time we were able to have the mother open up to us and explain some things she is having a hard time understanding about the church.  We offered to come over on Friday and clean her patio (backyard) and they offered to cook us some asado after!  We LOVE doing service here because it really helps gain trust, and well, service is awesome anyway! Hna Gerratt and I ended up changing our schedule and asked if we could come on Wednesday instead.  When we arrived we discovered someone new had moved in, the mother´s aunt.  We visited with her and after lunch she really opened up to us and said that just the night before she was praying to know the Lord´s camino (path/way) ¨and then I met you!¨  Wow.  I love when people can make the connection that we are sent from the Lord before we tell them that yes, we truly are His messengers!  It was meant to be for us to come on Wednesday, because she was so open with us we felt inspired to ask to come on Friday and explain more about our Church. Yesterday she told us she loves her job as a caretaker because she knows that is what God wants her to do, it is her calling in life.  I asked her what her background is as far as being familiar with the Bible and how often she went to Church, and we were incredibly surprised to hear that she has never read the Bible and she has only gone to a church or two twice.  She sounded like she was born and raised in a Christian home!  It was such a testimony to me that the Lord speaks to his children in so many different ways, and that people can have so much faith and be so prepared to come unto Christ through baptism, and they don´t even know it!  She told us a lot more that was music to our ears, and the smile on her face when we told her that the Book of Mormon was hers to keep was so beautiful.  She thought she had to give it back after she was finished!  

I am loving the way the Lord works, how people cross our path and we help them find exactly what they need.  This way we can reanimate... (ok that is a spanish term... re-excite? re-enthuse? you get the idea)  the less active famliy while teaching their aunt!  I love this work!  

2012... can you believe it?!  I am going to be a missionary for ALL of 2012.  Crazy!  My New Year´s Resolutions are a lot different, and I feel like I have been making goals since September... but this will be good to have a landmark in my horizon to work toward!  I am imagining the type of missionary I would like to be in January 2013, and I hope I can get there!  I hope you all have a lovely New Year´s Eve and a Happy New Year.  It´s always been my favorite holiday.  If you know my family and our crazy tradition with the Rose Parade then you know why.  They are most likely on the route staking out their territory right now.  So proud. 

Feliz Año Nuevo!  I´ll be ringing in the new year with some fireworks (I´ll be watching, not firing them off, just fyi) and hamburgers!!  

xoxo hermana miller 

Monday, December 26, 2011

bah hum bug

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!   Our weekend was so great.  We started off by traveling to Funes on Friday night to stay with four other hermanas so we wouldn{t have to travel as far on early Saturday morning to Rosario for our Christmas Conference.  We Hermanas wanted to make things festive, so we decided to spice up our contacting by going caroling!  Just fyi,  Argentines have NO idea what caroling is, unless they have seen it in an American Christmas movie.  At first we couldn{t believe the number of people who said [No thanks, I don{t want to hear anything from you! We{re not religious[  My companion wouldn{t let that fly, she said something like [dos minutos, nada mas![ (two minutes, nothing more!) and had us start singing.  I think we saw a handful of Scrooges and Grinches turn into happy Buddy the Elf {s that night.  It is incredible how a simple Christmas hymn can put a smile on a face that was pretty grumpy minutes beforehand!  We even had a lady film us on her camera, and another had tears in our eyes.  I know without a doubt that they were feeling more than the spirit of Christmas while we were singing! 

The conference was wonderful.  We heard talks by President and Hermana Giuliani and our Assistants to the President.  I really loved La Hermana{s message about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  In Luke when the angel Gabriel visits Mary, she is told not to have fear.  Hermana Giuliani told us hermanas in a separate meeting that morning to remember to never have fear and never be desanimadas (hmmm... meaning.. defeated/down?).  She knows there are so many things we worry about - our investigators, our number of lessons we teach, the number of people we find and contact, how effective our studies are, how good our castellano (Spanish) is, what kind of missionary we will be when we are finishing our mission, what we will do when we get home... and above all of these preoccupations we need to rely on the Lord.  I am learning the amazing power that comes when one prays to know the will of the Lord.  We have the agency to pray for whatever it is we want, and with our faith and actions we can receive answers - this we all know.. but something even more powerful and humbling is when one asks the Lord to know what is His will, and to pray to have the ability to accept it and do according to it.  To place his desires in front of ours is a miraculous way that the Lord can some day fulfill our biggest dreams. We have to remember to not have fear and to never give up! 

Love you all!  

Hermana Miller 









 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

seek = find

Hello!!  Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic week.  Here it has been extremely humid and hot, I am quite proud of my farmer{s tan, watch tan, and sister missionary maryjane shoes tan.  

On Saturday we had a baptism!  Jorge, whom I mentioned a few weeks ago when he finally started coming to church, followed his wife{s example and was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church.  Our next goal is to help this wonderful family go to the temple and be sealed together for time and all eternity in one year.  

This week we had some pretty spiritual experiences with a new investigator.  She is a woman who left her husband and moved from Cordoba with her 11 year old son back into her parents{ old home here in Cañada de Gomez.  She lost everything and has so much faith that God will help her get through this.  She has big plans to open up a panaderia or some sort of shop where she can sell comida casera (homemade food) right from her home.  (Something I love about Argentina pueblos, they have kioscos and little negocios right adjacent to people{s homes in the middle of a barrio.  You can get your groceries without having to go all the way into the centro!)  We told her that if she reads the Book of Mormon and prays to our Heavenly Father that she will find a way to pay her bills, feed herself and her son, have furniture, and make her dreams come true.  We taught her how to pray and asked her to offer a prayer.  This is standard for missionaries to do, and I have been anxious to have this experience here in Argentina ever since I watched some examples from the Preach My Gospel DVDs we watch during companion study (The church made a documentary called The District where they followed missionaries in two different missions and captured real teaching experiences.)  The examples in the DVD were really powerful: the missionaries asked their investigators to specifically pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. With this woman we simply told her how we pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, and that she can ask for anything specific in the middle.  We let her pray for whatever she felt she should pray for.  When we all knelt and waited for her to begin her prayer, I was expecting her to be a little timid, as most people are when they first offer a vocal prayer in front of us... but she completely blew us away!  I was pleasantly surprised and extremely touched when she said [Please tell me, Lord, if this book is true, and if these hermanas are truly your servants that you have sent to me[   WOW.  She prayed for exactly what we were hoping she would be asking!  I think she has been praying all along to know if what we are teaching is true and was humoring us when we taught her how to pray.  It was a beautiful moment, and I will always remember her sincere pleading, not only for strength, but also her sincere gratitude for what she did have. 

 Prayer is an incredible thing.  I am learning to pray more specifically and more diligently.  The Lord in many ways already knows what are desires are, but once we honestly express to him in vocal prayer with humility and faith, amazing things start to happen.  We may not get our answer right away, but we do come into an alignment with the will of the Lord.  Whatever it is He feels needs to happen in my life, I will feel at peace because I am exercising my faith.  Sometimes I have to learn this principle time and time again, to be patient with the Lord{s timeline.  But when I finally am in accordance with his will, everything around me makes so much sense.  I feel like I can brace myself and bear my trials in a way I never thought I could before. We cannot overcome our obstacles alone.  Another beautiful thing I learned is that the Lord will not allow us to have a trial we cannot overcome!  When a conflict arises and at first it feels overwhelming and too much for us to handle, all we have to do is step back and think, I can do this!  The Lord placed this in front of me for a reason, this will make me stronger in the end.  Then we press forward with faith and even though it will be hard, it will be possible.  It will be more than possible, it will be fulfilling. 

1 Nephi 10:19  For he that diligently seeketh shall find


I love you all so much.  There are times throughout my day when I see something that reminds me of home (which is a stretch, there isn{t too much that does at times.. its often an American song playing from a remis driving by, or an American brand on a T shirt) and I am reminded of how blessed I am to have had such great memories with such wonderful friends and family.  I hope you can step back and look at where you life is right now and remember to rely on the Lord in all things.  Our Savior sacrificed his life so that we can rise to our highest potential!  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!  

xoxo hermana miller 








Wednesday, December 14, 2011

El Libro de Mormon, in action!

We had a missionary activity this Saturday which was really fun!  We split everyone up into three different groups and acted out different stories from the Book of Mormon, the story of Nephi and Laban, the story of Moroni and the Title of Liberty, and Samuel the Lamanite.  We dressed up, of course.  Bed sheets can do wonders!

I hope we all remember the reason for the season!  In a lot of the store windows we see Feliz Fiestas! written instead of Feliz Navidad, and it is sad to hear that a lot of the people here just Bbq together on the 25th and shoot off fireworks all night (sounds like the fourth of july!) We must remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He came to this Earth to live and die for us, and I know He lives!  Last night Hermana Gerratt and I watched The Testaments in our pench on our little dvd player.  It was so powerful seeing Christ come to the Americas, walk among the people, invite all the little children to come to him, and heal the sick and weary.  Whenever we explain the gospel of Jesus Christ to people on the street or in lessons, I have the easiest example of how important He is to us, I point to my name tag and say: Mira este nombre aqui! Look at this name right here! It is the largest part of our name tag for a reason, because He is the head of the Church!  We must never forget Him.  I am learning more and more each day the importance of perserverar hasta el fin, or enduring to the end.  It is so important that we rejoice in Christ in all that we do!  Some people that we are teaching do not understand what it means to put God first.  There are blessings waiting for us if we remember to take upon the name of Christ in all that we do.  A lot of people learning about the gospel don{t understand what it means to take upon the name of Christ.  I use a futbol analogy (everything is taught easier with futbol analogies, I learned this in Provo with a handful of Mexican youngsters who didn{t really care for our traditional lessons)  I tell people to imagine that when they get  baptized and take upon the name of Christ, they are putting on an imaginary jersey that says Christ{s name on it, and from that point on they are on Christ{s team and must do all they can everyday to make him proud, to play our hardest in the game of life!  This scripture I think explains it   2 Nephi 31:20

Por tanto, debeis seguir adelante con firmeza en Cristo, teniendo un folgor perfecto de esperanza y amor por Dios y por todos los hombres.  Por tanto, si marchais adelante, deleitandoos en la palabra de Cristo, y perseverais hasta el fin, he aqui, asi dice el Padre: Tendreis la vida eterna.  

PS, I just read this in our weekly newsletter.  Hermana Giuliani, the mission president{s wife, included this fact from the Friend magazine regarding Christmas traditions around the world: 

Las familias en Argentina encienden globos de papel en forma de diamante la Noche de
Navidad y los dejan que se vayan flotando en el aire durante la noche.

If you know castellano and you have seen the movie Tangled, then you should be as excited as I am.  If you don{t know castellano but you have seen the movie Tangled, then you can probably guess what it is that is so exciting!   If you haven{t seen Tangled, regardless of what language you know, shame on you.  Ok ok I{ll tell you... they light lanterns and let them float up in the air!  
Reason #56 why this mission is meant for me.  Thank you, Argentina! 

Besos, Hermana Miller 












Monday, December 5, 2011

Nearer My God To Thee

Hola mis queridos amigos y familiares!  I have to say I am sorry I
have more photos of food than I do of the area!  I bring out my camera
every Sunday, so eventually I will have more to show you!  At least
you know that I am well fed : )

My companion and I had two really special experiences this week
regarding the power of the Book of Mormon.  In the past few weeks we
have not had much success while contacting on the street or knocking
(read clapping) on doors. We had a hard day on Wednesday, a lot of our
set citas fell through and I remember praying for us to have our
spirits lifted and begin again the next day.  On Thursday I took with
us an extra Book of Mormon to hand out, usually Hermana Gerratt would
carry one but I decided I needed to carry my own so it would be a
constant reminder that we have a goal to hand one out by the end of
the day!  We met this lady in front of her house who was so friendly,
as many Argentines are, but I had this really distinct feeling to
share more with her even though she told us ¨I am a believer but I
don{t practice.  I worhip God when I have time at home.  She also
mentioned that she didn{t have time to go to church with all the
running errands for her children and cooking and cleaning..  we could
tell she was going through a stressful time.  I asked her if I could
give her something, and I pulled out the Book of Mormon.  I explained
to her that by reading it one can feel so much more peace!  Similar to
the Bible, it testifes of Jesus Christ{s life sacrifce and love for
us.  I showed her the photos in the front, and she had this expression
of curiosity on her face.  She said, ¨Thank you, but I..¨¨ and I told
her it was a gift, a free gift, and she raised her eyebrows with
surprise and grasped it carefully in her hands and said, ¨Thank you so
much. I love literature!  I read everything and everything!¨ I
promised her that she would feel more peace while reading it, and
before I could say more, tears started falling down her face, she
nodded and kept saying thank you thank you thank you, clutching the
book to her heart.

Yesterday we were out contacting a street that Hermana Gerratt had not
been to in a while (she has been serving in Cañada de Gomez since
August) and we passed by a sweet old man sitting on his steps with his
little dog in his lap.  He greeted us and we crossed the street to
visit him, quickly discovering that he could not speak- his vocal
chords were removed (I think) and he had a hole in his neck.  We were
able to understand some things that he mouthed, and everything else he
wrote out whenever our guesses were wrong.  I asked him if he liked to
read, and he mouthed ¨Poco, poco.¨  and made a little pinch sign with
his fingers.  We chatted a little more and I thought ¨We need to give
him a Book of Mormon even if he says he doesn{t like to read, I just
feel it!¨  So I took out a copy and explained to him that Jesus Christ
loves him and feels his pain, and after this life he will be healed
and will be able to speak and talk! (He also suffers from a blood
disease, his blood vessels burst when he walks.)  I handed him the
book and said ¨¨This book is a gift especially for you¨  and he looked
at us in surprise and said thank you and started crying, and then I
started crying!  que verguenza, I have never broke down like that in
front of a stranger.  He hugged the book and kept saying thank you.

I will never forget these experiences, to see complete strangers have
a connection with a book they have never seen before, and in the
instant they hold it, they feel something. Never before have I seen
such a testimony of the power of this Book, these two people hadn{t
even read a single verse from it and they felt its power.  I learned a
lot of things this week, and I{d like to share one more concept that I
find so vital  I feel that you should hear it as well.  In a past zone
conference Elder Arnold of the 70 told the missionaries in the mission
here that Personal Study of the Scriptures is necessary everyday in
our lives. If we want the protection of angels around us, then we have
to do it.  Our salvation depends on it.  Studying the scriptures, I
will be honest, was not something I loved to do growing up or even in
recent years.  I have learned this past year how vital it is to read
the Book of Mormon everyday. It brings us closer to God by abiding by
its precepts than by any other book.  It is more than just reading it
and knowing what commandments to follow and understanding the history
of these ancient prophets.  The act of sincere daily study allows the
window of personal revelation to open to us, and we need that personal
revalation daily.  Powerful stuff right?  I am definitely making
resolutions to study harder every day, even after my mission!

I hope you all are well!  I love and miss you all! It feels like
Christmas in July here!  Even though we don{t hear Christmas songs in
the street, I see fake Christmas trees and Santa statues in random
places... and I{m wearing sunscreen and shortsleeved blouses.  Que
raro.

besos y abrazos,  hermana miller



We ate churros in Funes, a city next to Rosario, after our special P
Day last week with the zone.  Funes has nice landscaping, cute little
houses and shops... reminds me a bit of South Pas!  The churros were
fresh with dulce de leche inside, sorry to say they put Disneyland{s
churros to shame!!





I made omelettes for us for our Sunday meal yesterday.. they turned out 
pretty well for having an old pan that burns everything in the middle!



Walking home from church... this dog followed us ALL day.  I named him
Blazer... during a door contact I heard a noise behind me so I turned
around to discover him digging profusely in a pile of sand, and then
jumping around in it and barking.  Easily amused.


Alfajor.  Not the kind found in a wrapper.  This was from the bakery
section in the supermercado.  Tastes like two dry sugar cookies with
dulce de leche in the middle.  Pretty good!




Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Feels Like Home


Hello wonderful friends and family, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!  Although I didn´t have any Turkey on Thursday, my companion and I definitely had a feast of our own. 
I must share with you an amazing experience from this week.  We are teaching a family of four, a young married couple with two children and one on the way.  The mother was recently baptized a few months ago and loves when we come over to visit and re teach her gospel principles.  Her husband has a baptismal date, but we recently felt that he wasn´t too enthused with following through.  He is an extremely hard worker, he works on his house that an organization similar to Habitat for Humanity is helping him build, and because of his hours is not available to hear our lessons very often.  BUT, we are very determined.  We taught him the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and what is so interesting about this man is that he gives us amazing answers, the kind you would hear from a life long member in a gospel doctrine class!  Yet he was not applying these answers to himself.  We kept praying and praying that he would change his hours on the house and come to Church.  Last Sunday we knocked on his door and he didn´t answer.  We later heard from his wife that he was convinced that we were Jehovah´s Witnesses, haha!  We invited him to a family home evening Saturday night in the chapel along with two other brethen in the ward, in hopes that he would feel more comfortable in the building and form some friendships.  We taught an object lesson with cut outs of the Plan of Salvation, and he came right after we finished!  Again, being the determined hermanas we are, we reviewed the lesson again, and I think he really understood how important it is to keep the commandments in order to be with our families forever. We were so happy that he came and prayed that he would come to church the next day.  Sunday came, (yesterday) and we only saw the wife and children sitting in the chapel.  We felt a little down, but still had hope that he would remember the lesson.  A few minutes after the sacrament was passed, my companion whispered in my ear ¨He´s here!¨  He came and sat with his family, and we just watched with beaming faces as he listened to the speakers and sang the hymns with his family.  I will always remember yesterday as the day I first cried in Argentina!  It may seem like no big deal to some; seeing someone come to church.  But it was so amazing seeing all of these priesthood holders go immediately up to him after the meeting to welcome him.  He was smiling and seemed comfortable! 
Our branch is SO small, and we have big goals to help strengthen it little by little.  It was interesting watching everyone after church- it seemed like a slow motion moment, watching families with big smiles hugging and saying goodbye to each other.. sounds like any other Sunday, right? But  I felt like for a brief moment I was seeing every person as Heavenly Father sees us.  And I had this really strong familiar feeling, and I thought ¨This feels like home!  How can this be when I have only been here a week?¨ and then I realized that the Church feels the same all around the world because of the Spirit, and home feels like home because of the Spirit, so that is why Church feels like home!  (sounds like ¨if a=b and b=c then a=c¨, ha)  I am so grateful for the love of these branch members.  They have so much faith amidst their small numbers and have high hopes to edify and build up their kingdom!
I will try to take more photos of the area.  We are counseled not to bring our cameras around as we draw attention to ourselves, but I will try next Sunday to snap some shots of our church building and some other great things around here. 
I love you all so much!  I am sending letters and postcards this week.. they shouldn´t take more than a week or two, but I am sorry to say that I receive mail much after it arrives in ARG because I am an hour and a half away from the mission home.  Dear Elder does work though!!  You can send it via email or have it printed at the mission office for me.  Isn´t technology great?
Alma 7:23 
Love Hermana Miller

Hermana Garrett and I during our Thanksgiving feast! 


We had french toast for breakfast



For dinner we ate a packed lunch Hermana Giuliani made for all the missionaries at our training meeting on Wednesday = two ham and cheese sandwiches (I decided to toast them on the stove!) potato chips, orange juice, m&ms, and Alfejores= the chocolate round piece of goodness.  It´s their popular candy bar here, always in that shape. Lots of different flavors.  The best is the Oreo!






The gelato here is great.  We ordered and they delivered in ten minutes!!  Too convenient!  Must not make this a habit!  We ordered three flavors, dulce de leche, cookies and cream, and strawberry.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Cañada de Gomez

¡Hola! ¿Como anda? ¿Que tal? ¿Como le va?
 
These are the greetings I hear everyday en la calle here in Cañada de Gomez, about an hour and a half west of Rosario.  Sometimes 3 phrases all strung together!  I love it here.  Oh my goodness, it is hard to describe how comfortable I feel in such an unfamiliar place.  It doesn´t feel surreal, finally I feel more like me, well the missionary me, and less of the shock that comes when first becoming a missionary. 
 
My companion is Hermana Garrett!  She is the sweetest, from Burely Idaho studying at Utah State.  This is her second time training and we are having a blast.  It is such a wonderful thing to work alongside someone who is always smiling and sharing something positive and uplifting!  We´ve had some good laughs already!
 
Let me tell you what this amazing place is like.  I feel like it´s a tropical East LA with a touch of Italy.  The outskirts of the pueblo have these vast campos/countrysides.  There is so much green here!  We already had one thunderstorm on Saturday, and I loved it.  Unfortunately we didn´t get the chance to walk in the rain because our ward missionary leader insisted on calling a ramis (taxi) for us to take us from his home to our pension (apt). 
 
This is what our schedule is like, a bit different from the Provo mission as we have to work around the siesta.
 
6:30 wake.  Go RUNNING OUTSIDE!  Ahhhh!  I am in love with the mornings here!  There are jacaranda trees everywhere, and all along the plaza!
7:00 breakfast, shower, prepare for the day.
8:00 2 hours of companionship study.  We discuss what we should teach the people we are going to see today and review gospel principles and scriptures.
10:30  Contacting (knocking on doors)  and teaching.
12¨30 lunch at a member´s home.  I have had fideos (noodles),  hamburguesa de Soja (soy) with veggies,  milanesa con arroz.  The lunch is the perfect size that we don´t need dinner.
2-4 Siesta, but not for us!  All the shops are closed, all the people go home to rest while we go home and do an hour of personal study and an hour of studying castellano (spanish. no, they don´t call it español here!)
The rest of the evening is spent knocking doors (oh, I mean CLAPPING in front of doors!!  SO COOL. Yup. ) and we don´t stop for dinner.  We might have a snack at home when we return at
9pm.  Return to the pench for planning and in bed by
1030.
 
Repeat.  Insert lots of prayers, small yet powerful miracles, funny chats with old people, dogs following us for hours, friendly youth who will take and read our pamphlets, not so friendly elderly who won´t let us finish our sentences,  half eaten birds on the ground, beautiful palms and oaks, horses tied up to old warehouses, train tracks, tin roofs, holes in walls, muddy roads, swollen feet, smiling faces belonging to two sister missionaries roughin´it in South America.
 
You guys, this is so awesome.
 
Chau!









Monday, November 14, 2011

Argentina Address!!

Here is Hillary's address in Argentina...


Sister Hillary Nicole Miller
Argentina Rosario Mission 
Blvd Argentina 7935
2000 Rosario
Santa Fe
Argentina


XOXO Cousin Cara :)

Up, Up and Away...

Hello my lovely friends and family!  Here I am on BYU campus on my last P-Day as a Utah Provo missionary, and in a matter of hours I will be an Argentina Rosario missionary!!  I am so incredibly excited.  I was talking with a fellowshipper last night after a lesson and he said "There is a reason you had to wait so long for your Visa, and I think you know why!  You could have been at the MTC this whole time, but instead the Lord needed you here."  I know exactly what he was referring to - this fellowshipper brought along our recent convert Eric, to bear his testimony during our lesson with a soon to be baptized member.  Hearing Eric's testimony for the first time brought tears to my eyes!  Just a month ago he was at the waters of baptism, and now here he is helping out with missionary work!  I kept hearing this week "You were here for a reason!" and it reminds me of a story I heard at the MTC - I may or may not have already mentioned it here, but I think it is worth repeating.  Our choir director told us how Heavenly Father placed a star in orbit at the perfect time so by the time its light reached us on Earth it was the night of our Savior's birth.  He made this an analogy with our lives, our missions.  My companions and I were placed together here at this specific time in place to shine at a specific time to specific people!  Light has always been one of my favorite symbols in life.  "Let your light shine before men!"   I hope you can apply this metaphor to your lives - where are you right now?  What people do you see everyday who don't know of the gospel?  Who needs uplifting and encouragement and love?  We all have specific callings, abilities, and gifts that the Lord gave us in order to help other people realize the endless love He has for them.  He gave us talents in order to build up the kingdom of God!!  On Sunday we had a great lesson about the family, and our teacher shared a woman's personal revelation after days and days of helping out her new step children after just being married.  She heard something in her tell her "What you are doing is more than just cleaning and cooking.  Esta edificando un reino.= You are building a kingdom!"  In the past few days, I have received a greater understanding of the divine nature I have as a woman, and the divine nature my mother and grandmothers have.  They have been building me as a royal daughter of Heavenly Father, and one day I will do the same!  This is something I hope I can share with the people of Argentina - families are the best gift Heavenly Father has given us.  They are the safe haven, the school of learning, the refuge from the world, the place of comfort and love you can't find anywhere else.  I have seen many broken families here as well, and through my companions' testimonies and experiences I know that the Lord finds a way to find father and mother figures for those who do not have a stable family.  The Lord is always looking out for us!  We just have to do our part and believe it - how?  Faith - By keeping the commandments and working our hardest toward our goal to constantly edify ourselves and the people around us through our example. Hope - that amazing blessings are waiting for us, and only come when we believe in them and ask for them. 

 
I love you all so much.  If I could change anything that is about to come my way it would be that my mail could fly more swiftly into your hands!   Thank you for your love, prayers, and support!
 
xoxo Hermana Hillary Miller
 
photos -  the trio in front of the temple - our last temple trip together! 

 
Tommy's burgers - missionaries eat free!  We only went twice - probably better that way.  Reminded me of LA/NYC - little counter facing out to the window, small menu, one little chef.  Amazing onion rings.  On 100 North a little west of Freedom Blvd.
 

This family got baptized last month and we have been teaching their 18 year old daughter - she and I are going to keep in touch, she wants to work in the film industry one day in LA : )

(I think Hillary forgot to attach this picture)
 
The driveway from the house - I will miss these trees!


A Book of Mormon Story...

Monday, November 7, 2011

Anticipation, Take Two!! :)

Greetings from Provo!   Yup, I am still here.  I got a call from the office telling me that the process at the consulate takes longer than the MTC anticipated, so there are 15 other missionaries waiting along with me in the same boat. Sooo maybe this week?  Who knows, my apologies for crying wolf!  I know that things are moving forward at least : ) 
 
 I have been SO grateful for this last week here. There are a plethora of very vital things I needed to learn before going out to my Rosario.  On Tuesday I was feeling a little under the weather and had the time to reevaluate how I teach and basically the ways that I am a missionary.  I hold dear to my heart the helpful tips and constructive criticism from my companions - it feels like a bit of an awakening!  I hope to continue growing day after day as I have these past two months (exactly two months today!  Crazy!)  
 
Two more people this week decided they would like to be baptized this month!  I am so incredibly happy for them!!  Especially for one investigator we taught from the beginning, since the first time he came to church about 4 weeks ago.  He has SO much hunger and curiosity for doctrinal knowledge!  He will call us in the middle of the week asking us what certain scriptures mean.  This was particularly funny for us, he one night called with much confusion, "I am reading here in the Book of Mormon and the footnote says there is a scripture in the book of Moses... I have looked everywhere in the Bible and the Book of Mormon for ten minutes and I can't find it!"  I recognized his great enthusiam and remembered Elder Holland's words from a video we watched at the MTC - "Be your first convert. If they need to read the scriptures more deeply, then so do you!"  Hermana Montano challenged me to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon at the end of every one of our lessons. 
 
My love for the Book of Mormon has grown so much during these two months as a missionary.  I have come to realize how vital it is in strengthening my relationship with Heavenly Father.  I can tell you from experience that the words written in the Introduction are true when Joseph Smith says, "The Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth, the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."  I now understand why it is so essential to read it every single day, and I can't imagine what my life would be like without it. It is incredible to finally feel a hunger for the scriptures, when I must admit I didn't have that huge drive to really know and understand everything they teach when I was younger.  It is such a wonderful thing to know that our Heavenly Father has given us something on which we can rely every single day - to help us have a more eternal perspective, to teach us how to be more Christ-like, and to give us optimism and excitement for the future that lies ahead if we work our hardest and keep the commandments.  

Photos - frost!  It is snowy off and on but hasn't stuck yet.  Hermana Brignone and I in the van on our way to our Sister's Activity - laser tag at Trifalga.  Hilariously fun.
 
I love you all!!  With love from Hermana Miller