Week #23 - Pictures

Elder R. and I in the Jungle!

L. and I :)

Week #23

Hola Familia! 

I first want to say that the pictures of Kali and Kody definitley made me laugh and put a smile on my face! And then the pictures of Megan and Shane almost made me cry! I cant believe that Megan is that old! That is crazy! But she looked gorgeous as usual :) 

Sounds like you guys have been busy fund raising! I am glad to hear that people have contributed generously to help Megan! Also she had to work a little bit which never hurts! But it sounded like a busy fun week of baking! 

Elder H. sounds like a great guy! I have always loved listening to Return missionaries speak! Their stories are always the best! And to see how they used to be and how they have changed in such a short time is truly a miracle in some cases! But one of the teachers in the CCM told me that you have to let the mission change you, it doesn't work automatically! 

Yes Kelly's birthday was Friday! I cant believe she is 19! That is so old! But I am glad she enjoyed her gifts :) thank you for delivering them and getting her something also! 

The temple was amazing! I definitely miss it! We had a little Zone testimony meeting before and it was super spiritual! It is truly an honor to serve with such awesome young men and women! I am grateful to counted as one of them! I truly admire their sacrfices and their testimonies! The session was really good! I understood the whole Endowment in spanish! I was pretty happy about that! It is good to see that I have progressed since December! 

Well this week has been a good week! Elder G. and I recieved instruction to work with the members this week. We have a Area Seventy visiting our stake on Thursday and so we have been preparing them for this Fireside. They are really excited! Also we have been really pressuring them to bring a inactive or an investigator,so we will see how many come through! Also my English class had a great success this week! An Investigator that the missionaries have taught before came and showed interest in the church again! So Elder G. and I had the opportunity to teach her this week! Her name is M. and she was really receptive! Also another investigator P. also attended and shared her testimony how the church has changed and helped her life! It was amazing because in this moment P. realized she herself had a testimony! So It was really awesome! I think Elder G. and I will be going to this fireside of the seventy with them this week! So wish us luck! 

Also this week we have been on the House hunt! We found one but it is a little big and a little pricey for 2 missionaries! So we are trying to get permission from the president to live in 4 still! So we will see what happens this week! 

So mothers day is soon! And my companion informed me that we should be recieving the schedule soon! So as soon as I know you will know! But this is the week of Elder Milton :) I love you guys and you guys are in my prayers! I will write you more next week! 

Love,

Elder Milton 

Week #22 - Pictures

From Left to right C., Elder G., R., L., V., Me, Hermana EM(The Grandma)

Week #22

Hola Familia!

Elder Milton is still alive after a crazy two weeks! Needless to say last week was hardly a P Day! I will give the short verison! HOLY MOLY last week was a crazy week! I went all around the world it felt like! Well long story short: We had a service project in the morning helping a member fix his car, and when I say we I mean my companion because I dont know anything! Then we rode a bus to Luque to help this family carry their food from the Bishops Storehouse. Luque is about 1.5 hours away, so when we finally arrived back in Salado it was 1:00, then we went to the office in the captital which is another hour and a half bus ride. We went to the office to help Ch. find some slacks that other missionaries left behind. So we ate lunch in Asuncion and went to the office and we finished all of that by 5. Well we waited for a bus back to Salado for 2 hours! So we arrived home really wait and didnt even have time to work :( or email!

Anyways, Congrats to Megan on her state performance and being asked to prom! That will be fun with Shane! Also I am glad that you recieved the package and letters! Inside the package only mom and Mike can see! 

Happy Easter also! I havent spent a bunch of time reading the emails from the last two weeks so I am going to just sum up my last couple weeks. Well Elder G. and I have been working hard! And we have had a bunch of opportunites to serve which is alway my favorite! But the highlight this week was the baptism of R., V., and L.! It was set for Saturday night, but there was a crazy lighting storm and the power went out at the church :( so we postponed for Easter!  We did this so they could be confirmed right away after :) Well it was a great service! There were a lot of members able to attend. I had the opportunity to baptize cute little L. and also confirm her! Well she was really excited but really nervous because there was a lot of people so I entered the font first and it was freezing cold! I told her I was sorry and she didnt understand why...until she too stepped into the ice cold water! Haha it was really cute she was shivering! Luckily I only had to dunk her once, she is really short so it was easy! So this was the highlight of the week! It was a huge blessing!

Also tomorrow I will have the chance to attend the temple! My first time here and I am excited, the mission only goes one time a year in April, so I am going to make the most of it! I am really excited! 

Everything with my companions is going well! It is really good practice for my spanish living with 3 other latinos! They help me a bunch! I try to help them as best as I can with English. It is hard to learn English I have realized. You cant just have a desire, you have to work hard! English is hard in the aspect of the pronounciations. My poor companions cannot make the L sound in Milton so I get called Mitton a lot of the time. They also have a hard time making the R sound like Barn. But we are practicing! They need alot! But so do I so it is very mutual! 

Well I hope this letter finds everyone is good spirits! I am very filled with joy. The baptism was a huge blessing from the Lord. We have been working hard so he was more or less forced to bless us haha. But I love you guys and once again I am sorry I missed you last week! You are in my prayers! :)

Love Elder Milton

P.S. I got your package! Thank you so much! I jump rope everyday! It is exactly what I wanted! Thank you for everything!

Week #21 - Letter Home - Dated March 20, 2014

Dear Family,

I am happy to report that Elder Milton is still alive and well!  He now also finally finished his 12-week training as a missionary.

My first week was a test!  As you know, Elder S. left and I am still here in Salado.   Also, my dear friend Elder O. and his companion both left the ward.  This left only me in our ward who knew anything about the area, missionary wise.  So this week, I have been, of course, introducing and showing my new companion, Elder G. around and helping him feel comfortable.  But also, I had to do the same with the other companionship.  Their names are Elder A. and Elder R.  Kind of funny because I only know very little of their area.  We got lost a couple of times.  But the Lord has always blessed us and we found our way.  And personally the Lord has blessed me with 3 new patient companions.

Well, besides this, my area has been doing pretty well.  This Sunday (today) we had 9 less actives attend which I was very happy about.  All 9 were people Elder S. and I have been working with.  The only sad thing is this Sunday was the fourth Sunday Cat  was not there.  She has been avoiding us.  So I'm really considering dropping her, which is hard!  I want to help her so bad!  But she just doesn't have the will any more so it is hard for her to continue, and also, it is difficult for us to work with us if she doesn't want to.

Well, I wrote this letter really quick to send off.  I found out today that I needed to send off my papers to be a citizen  of Paraguay. Finally!  So I apologize for how brief this letter is.  I love you all very much and I hope to receive your letters and package soon.

Love,
Elder Milton

Week #20 - Pictures

Goodbye Elder O.

Goodbye Elder S.

Ch. and Nat. before she got set apart.

JC with his call! Columbia!

Me and Elder McC. in the migrations office

General Conference with Elder G.

Week #20

Hola Familia!

It sounds like the trip to Ohio was super cool, and super busy! Man i am still so pleased to hear how close you were to contacting Elder Motes, if the guy saw you he would probably wet his pants! But it sounded really busy! But I am glad you arrived home safely!

Also Kelly is endowed! That is so special that she invited you guys :) I am really glad she did! Thank you guys for going and supporting her :) I wish I could've been there! 

I am also glad to hear that Kody is progressing in cub scouts! Im sure he is loving it! Also that is good he is practicing football! Needless to say he will probably be better than me when I get back! For the time being I only practice the fake futbol. Haha no but really there are some Elders that are really good! And it makes me so mad to see them play circles around me! But i feel that I am gettin better every week :) 

Things in Salado are doing good! The other Elders have moved back in with us and now Elder G.will have to find another house. But we have until the end of the month! This week was fairly busy! We have been going around preparing people for general conference so that was really good! Also this less active sister introduced us to three of her grandchildren that just moved in with her and now the grandma is the Legal Guardian of them. They want to be taught to be baptized! Really unexpected! But Their names are R. 12 years old, V. 9 years old and L. 8 years old. They are all girls and very sweet. It was really funny we gave them all Books Of Mormons and they got mad at me because I didnt sign them! So I autographed them and they all tried to pronounce my middle name Le Roy but it was a little difficult so I taught them haha.

Also this week we ran into Cat. who lately has been avoiding us, I introduced her to Elder G. and we scheduled an appointment for today so we will see if it falls through or how this goes!

Conference was really good! Well from what I could watch, they had the satelite transmission at the stake center but the saturday session was no bueno. So I didnt have high expectations for Sunday but it was a lot better! I watched and listened in spanish! It was a good test! But boy did I miss their voices! It was kind of depressing not hearing the voice of the Prophet! I am so grateful that I know english! But I still felt the spirt listening to them :) 

Today I got to see Elder O. which was good! He was super excited to see me! He is so funny! I feel like he is my little brother! I dont care if he is 22 years old! Haha but we got to play soccer and play against eachother! I still havent head from Elder S., he is far away and he is the president of his Branch! So I am sure he has a lot on his plate right now but I know he is doing awesome! 

Well my week was good and tiring! And really hot! I cannot wait for winter! But Elder Milton lives on in Paraguay one more week! Thank you guys for your love and your prayers! I love you all very much and I will see you next week! 

Love,

Elder Milton