The Mission Is Full Of Surprises!

This week was crazy!   Let me fill you in..

After going to the ciber to email, I received a phone call from the Assistants that I would not be going to the mission home on Thursday to pick up my new companion because she has Visa problems.  Sound familiar?  Now I know what it is like on the flip side!!  The Elders said that I needed to go straight to my new area. On Wednesday, the crazy day called Transfers, I traveled to Rosario from Cañada de Gomez.  From the Terminal I traveled with another Elder 3 hours south on a bus to Venado Tuerto, where Hermana Collins picked me up. There are two areas for hermanas in Venado right next to each other, and our apts are two houses down!  I was pretty pumped to hear about all the fun things the missionaries do here in the zone.  They get together often in the morning to play basket and have asados (bbq´s) and activities every PDay, which is so different from being alone in Cañada! So the plan was for me to be in a trio with Collins and her comp Velasco for a week or so until my new companion came.  On Thursday I got a call from the assistants again, telling me ¨Hermana, you are going to Arroyo Seco to serve with Hermana Rentfro.  Pack all of your things and take the next bus out!¨  What?!  Hermana Rentfro had a ¨visa-waiter¨ who got her visa for her mission in Spain, and was without a companion!  So I quickly packed up everything again (they are definitely putting my speedy packing skills to the test!) and took a bus on Friday to the terminal in Rosario, and I was told that from there I would take a taxi to the mission home and find Rentfro there, but to my surprise I found President Giuliani and one of the Assistants right at my side once I hopped down from the bus.  It was a pleasant surprise and a nice treat to have them chauffeur me down to Arroyo Seco.

So here I am!  In the middle of all the chaos Hermana Rentfro called a member from Rosario who had served a mini mission (one transfer to help out the mission when we are short an hermana) to fill in as her comp for a bit.  Her name is Hermana Machuca and she is great!  She stuck around this weekend because we had a baptism!  That was another big surprise for me.  Hermana Rentfro didn´t tell me a thing about it until we started planning for the weekend.  No wonder she needed more help!

I love Antonio, he is in his 70´s, a bit deaf, and reminds me of Bill Cosby.  We arrived at his house to tell him the details the day before his baptism and there was music playing from his house.  I smiled and introduced myself and told him I loved his music, and this HUGE grin appeared on his face and he said ¨Quiere bailar?¨ and threw back his head and leaned back just like Bill Cosby does his little dance, the arms and everything!  I was sold.  He shared alfajores with us after the lesson too... such a sweetheart.  The baptism was perfect, and we invited our neighbors... that´s another story for another week, but to make it short we are teaching them tonight and the daughter wants to be baptized!!

I love this work. No matter where we are the work keeps going.  It´s in Arcadia, Glendale, La Cañada, Pasadena, LA, Anaheim, New York, Provo, Paris, Florence, it´s everywhere!  The Lord needs his servants, and that includes those who don´t wear a name tag ; )

I love you all.  Thank you for your letters and emails.  They mean the world to me.  (dearelder.com is the best!! Thank you!) YOU mean the world to me!!

xoxo hermana miller


Baptism of Antonio in Arroyo Seco with my companion Hermana Rentfro and our mini misionera Hermana Machuca who helped out Hermana Rentfro when she didn´t have a companion for a few days. It´s a bit complicated but I will explain everything!  : ) 

I'm going to Venado Tuerto!

I just found out a little while ago that I am leaving Cañada de Gomez and going to an area further south called Venado Tuerto = one eyed deer.  Interesting name, don´t you think?  It has been hard saying goodbye to people, but I know it is my time and there are great things ahead for me.  I am really curious to meet my new companion, and I am very excited to be in this new area because we have other sister missionaries in the branch with us, and other elders in the zone meet up with us every Monday to play sports and cook.  It will be a nice change, because here in Cañada we are at least half an hour away from the other elders in our zone. 

Hermana Miranda and I had something really amazing happen to us the other night.  On Wednesday we attended a training meeting and did a practice/ role play, which I have not been a big fan of in the past.  It was actually really successful and it felt real to me, which is usually rare.  We need a pretend contact, lesson, and invitation to baptism.  On Thursday all of our planned appointments fell through in the evening, which frustrated me for a bit because I really felt right about being in that area that day.  I said aloud ¨What am I doing wrong?! What does the Lord want... there must be a reason why we are here right now!¨  Miranda asked me if I had contacted this certain street before with Gerratt, I said no, and so we started contacting.  At the second door we met a girl my age who was Evangelista and not interested, but when Miranda was persistent (love her!) the girl asked if we wanted to come in.  That is music to a missionary´s ears, folks.  We ended up asking her a lot of questions, said a prayer, and taught her about faith, repentance, and baptism.  Then we ended up inviting her to baptism, which at first she rejected, but once again we were persistent and when we told her that Heavenly Father answers all prayers and asked her if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ after having received an answer that these things are true, she said simply ¨If God says so, then yes!¨  

 As Miranda and I walked down the street we held our excitement in for a few blocks until we were far enough away when we could finally jump for joy and skip down the street with delight. I now have a testimony of role plays!  I know the Lord prepared us the day before in that training meeting so we could help out this young mother. Miranda and her new comp are going to continue teaching her, and I am crossing my fingers that she will be baptized the 7th of April!! 

This work is full of surprises, and full of ¨pruebas de fe¨  and ¨pruebas de paciencia.¨  If we are patient and faithful, we can be content with the Lord´s timeline.  I know that he answers prayers, and it is even better knowing that I can be happy while I am waiting for an answer.  That´s the trick! 

I love you all, and I hope you are happy and well.  

Love Hermana Miller 

Dominga and Familia Bustamante.

little victories

The sunrise this morning was crazy orange... (it shows up more red on the camera)  and we keep hearing that some big storms are coming our way.

A lot is different in the area right now.  We are focusing on gaining help from the branch members to attend lessons with us and become more excited about missionary work.  We  are receiving more references and teaching families to sincerely pray to know who is ready to hear the gospel.  A lot of times we hear ¨We´ve tried already, none of our friends are interested!¨  A member who was inactive for six years and then returned said the very same thing.  I told her ¨You had a change of heart and came back to the Church, right?  So maybe these people will have a change of heart too and are now interested in the gospel, when years ago they weren´t ready yet!¨  I think that got her thinking : )  My companion told her to write a list of every single person she knows and when we next see her we are going to have her pray to know which people are ready to hear the gospel. 

Saturday night we had a lesson with a less active member and invited a member of the Branch Presidency.  The less active member has been telling us how lucky we are as missionaries to have the Spirit constantly and have such a strong relationship so close to God.  We kindly reminding him that he too can have the companionship of the Spirit, and although he is not called to be a missionary, he is still able to share the gospel with others and is in the most important mission of his life, the strengthening of his home and family.  I loved listening to the counselor´s testimony of the importance of attending Church and the gift of the Holy Ghost.   The next day at Church the less active man came and bore his testimony,  Let me tell you, little victories like that make me want to jump and do bell kicks down the aisle in the chapel.  But I refrain and resort to dance moves in my head.  YES!

Little victories happen everyday, and each one of us can be part of it.  I love this work!! And the greatest thing about this work is that there is no separation between missionary work and the gospel.  When we are members and not full time missionaries, we are ¨full time finders and missionaries are ¨full time teachers¨.  It´s a beautiful thing, my friends.

Thanks for the birthday messages!   6 years and going strong!  : ) 

Love you all.  xoxo hermana miller 

Hello everyone!  Today was a really great day, and it was a really great week too!  Today we met up with our zone in Rosario.  We played some sports and had a water balloon fight.  I felt like a little kid for a few hours... it´s nice to have something different in our schedule every once in a while to shake things up and recharge.

My poor Hermana Miranda has been fighting some major migranes lately, so we had to travel a bit, see some doctors, and rearrange our normal work so we could figure out how to help her feel better.  Amidst the hiccup in our schedule, we still saw lots of miracles happen!  The nurses that attended to her in Rosario were extremely curious about our nametags, and after a good twenty minutes of explaining The Church, we got their contact info and sent it to the mission office so the elders in their area can go teach them!  I love that the Lord helps us find people even during a doctor´s appointment!

We also found some people while contacting that sound sincerely interested in hearing our message, which is great because sometimes Argentines are too nice to say NO and will let us come by again, but will only want to chat about other things.

On Thursday we had a very inspiring Zone Conference where we heard from President and Hermana Giuliani along with the Assistants to the President.  They talked about the importance of seeking the Spirit in this work and recognizing answers to our prayers.  This is definitely something I have been working harder on, because without it missionaries cannot know exactly where the Lord wants them to go or what to say!  Read D&C 50, it has become our theme in this mission.. and I absolutely love it and am a witness of how vital our connection is with the Spirit.  Prayer is the way that we can form this connection, and this is not smoething exclusive to missionaries!  All of us, Heavenly Father´s children, have been given this hermosa opportunity to converse with Almighty God who is the Supreme Being of all things... which sounds a bit intimidating, no? But He loves us like a father, because He is our Father. We can speak to Him at any moment at any time, aloud or silently in our hearts.  The tricky part that we make harder on ourselves is when we miss His answers.  He  always answers our prayers.. it is our duty to be observant to what is around us, and sensitive to how we feel, because that is how we can recognize His answers and receive revelation.  It definitely takes practice, and it has slowly but surely become easier for me.  I love it!  I love being a missionary.  I love seeing right in front of my eyes when my companion and I are being used as instruments in the Lord´s hands.

I hope you are all well!  I am sorry I dont have many photos as of late.. the connection is a bit slow here.

Besos

Hermana Miller 

Hello!  Happy President´s Day!  I completely forgot that today is a holiday at home until my Dad wrote me about what ¨Washington´s Day¨ was like when he was a kid.  It is also a holiday here today and tomorrow, called ¨Carnival¨.  Nothing much seems different here except not a lot of things are open and there was a huge concert and bingo on Saturday with thousands of people= impossible for us to sleep! 

Yesterday I attended my first district conference (a district is to a stake as a branch is to a ward : ) )  and heard some amazing talks from the district presidency and our mission president and his wife.  I love President Giuliani´s enthusiasm! The first thing he said when he approached the stand was ¨It is so great to be here and to see your smiling faces! (pointed at his face and made a huge smile) Smile! It´s Sunday!¨ He loves goals, and encourages us missionaries to think of the specific steps necessary in order to reach those goals. Many times we (I know I have done this!) will make a beautiful goal, write it down, and forget about it.  President told us that our main goal here in Misión Argentina Rosario is to one day have a temple in Rosario.  He then told us what other big steps need to take place before this can be made a reality:   
1.  Encourage young men to prepare to serve a mission now, so there will be no doubt whether they are ready or not once they are of age.  (He also put in a nice plug about how even though it is not required for women to serve, they are more than encouraged to serve, and that they bring a certain spirit to the work that elders cannot.  He looked at my companion and I when he shared this, and I of course got tearyeyed.)

2.  Increase Church Attendance. Invite people to church! Help those who are struggling to stay active!

3.  Increase Tithing. Ah I love his explanation for this goal!  He said the Church needs dedicated tithing payers not because we need the money to build the temple, but because we need to show the Lord that we are willing to sacrifice temporal things in order to receive blessings from a higher, spiritual law.  We must follow the simpler commandments first in order to prepare ourselves to receive the blessings that come from higher, more sacred covenants. 

4.  Be worthy to enter the temple

We have some plans to help our branch remember these goals daily, and we are excited to press forward with these goals!  We know that a lot of time and work will have to take place before we can have a temple here, but I have faith that every little effort will help.  

This work is such a beautiful thing.  More and more each day I am reminded of the importance of inviting people to follow through with their committments to read, pray, and come to Church.  We are teaching them to recognize the blessings that come from being obedient, and step by step they are preparing themselves to make and keep sacred covenants! I have been blessed with the knowledge of beautiful and sacred things from going to the temple, and I want everyone I meet to have the same blessings too! 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Love and miss you all! 

xoxo hermana miller 

Buen dia!  Como le va?  I hope everyone is doing well! 

Things are moving along quite nicely here in Cañada de Gomez.  We are receiving more participation from the branch members here, which makes us so happy!  There is something really special about having a member accompany missionaries to a lesson.  It excites the member, and it definitely excites us because the investigators have the chance to see what a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is really like... because well... we missionaries are not exactly your typical normal person.  Sometimes people get confused and think that if they were to join the Church they will have to be full time missionaries like us, wear skirts all the time, and not be able to watch TV or go out on the weekends!  More importantly- participation from members gives people a chance to hear another testimony of the truth of this gospel.  

On Saturday Hermana Miranda and I had to travel to Rosario, and had some time to eat lunch in Parque Independencia.  I love it!  The lake has little paddle boats you can rent (we watched longingly on the shore...)  and a beautiful bridge and free standing pillars!   

One thing that is really interesting about the gospel is when certain themes we think we understand and know (think of a repeated Sunday School lesson you think you{ve heard more than enough) must be taught once again to strengthen our testimonies.  I definitely had that experience yesterday concerning my purpose as a missionary.  I re read a talk by Elder Clayton from last general conference, titled The Time Shall Come.  

I know that I am here in Argentina particpating in a grand work, the gathering of Israel!  I know with all my heart that this work cannot be stopped, it is the work of the Lord and our efforts as missionaries slowly but surely will bring great fruits one day, even though we may not be able to see it right now.  I love being a missionary!!  I am learning to appreciate each day the best way that I can, not only to enjoy the awesome things that come from  being in a foreign country, but moreso the precious time I have been given to interact with so many different people.  This time is already flying by, and I have to use every moment the best way I can and tell all that I meet about this important message of the gospel!  

I love and miss you all! 

Chau,  Hermana Miller 

All Good In The Neighborhood

Hola friends y family!  

I am sorry, I don{t have a lot of time to write, but I am still here in Cañada de Gomez and I have a new companion, Hermana Miranda, from Cordaba Argentina!  Her castellano is beautiful, and I am already seeing changes in my own abilities to speak this beautiful language.  She is an awesome missionary and I am learning so much from her ability to connect with the people, and it{s not just because she{s Argentine.  We have a lot of goals to strengthen the less active families and find new people!! 

Hope you are all doing well. Sorry for such a short note!  

Con amor 

Hermana Miller 

*** Hillary's birthday is coming up on Feb 29!!  She will finally be turning 6!!!  She will actually be having a real birthday this year since it is Leap Year!!  Don't forget to send her a quick Happy Birthday note!!  Thanks :) Cara