I did it!!!!!!

Wow, I don't even have words to describe how im feeling. Well, for starters satan is just trying to get  his way and send me all kinds of feelings... including la GRIPE! that's right, I'm coming home sick. Haha stuffy nose, sore throat, and a cough haha.

This week has been a mixture of emotions. I cant help but look back on this part of my life with a sense of accomplishment. I did it! I served a full time mission! IN ECUADOR! I speak spanish! I helped others come unto Christ. I completed with my calling. It breaks my heart, la verdad, to go home. But I feel that its time. Ive done what I needed to do here and now I have other callings and responsibilities awaiting me. 

I leave my sector on Wednesday and will be in Guayaquil until next Monday where I will begin my travels home Monday late at night. I will be traveling for approximately 12 or 13 hours straight! YUCK! haha..... and the funniest part?? I will be taking three airplanes. My first flight I will be with an Elder that is going home as well! Not just any Elder, my Zone leader! haha Its okay, he is cool. It will just be weird... Not only will I be without a companion... but I will be with a guy! haha Talk about uncomfortable. 

This mission is amazing. Being a missionary is amazing. I have no words to describe it. It was the hardest thing I've ever done and I will forever be grateful that I did it. I know that God was with me and I continue to feel his help everyday.

I'm not the same person I was when all this started, lots of things have happened. Im not perfect but I  understand more about what I need to do with my life. 

I love you all! This will be the last email you recieve from me as a missionary. I love you I love you I love you!

Next week,  HUGS! haha and lots of tears!

Dont get scared when you see how much weight ive gained. hahahaha 

Love, Hna Miller                                                

Mango Man!

A VEEEER. Okay entonces solo voy a hablar en español. Jaja BROMA. Hablare en ingles. This week felt like a replay from the last week. Im still with Hermana Rojas we have been in and out of the house. I JUST WANNA WORK! haha I dont like being at home, but good news is that she is feeling better so we are going to be working a little more. Bad news? No hay Pday hoy. We only get Pday from 12 to 2 today just time to eat and write the family because this tuesday (mañana) we are going to travel to Guayaquil because WENSDAY (wedsday?...Wednesday?... No se) we have the CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE! Woohoo! CHRISTMAS! They are doing it early this year for the people that go home the 1st of december. and on jueves I have a meeting. We call it "taller por los muertos"... or the "Dead ppl meeting" AKA the meeting for those who are going home. Its like a meeting or class to put goals for your life or something.... im in denile. haha I still dont feel like im going home, it feels like a joke. Im just waiting for the punch line. 

Anyways, maybe you are all asking why the title of this email is mango man? Portoviejo is known for (other than its bad water) its mango trees! There are so many mangos all over the place! So the other day instead of just doing normal contacting we decided to ask this little old man if he would give us some of his mangos....he did.. :) and then we gave him a picture of Jesus Christ and started talking about all kinds of stuff. Turns out he is a painter, he let us in to show us his paintings, we met his wife and in the end he opened up and told us that he feels empty sometimes, like his life is missing something, and that he feels like he has a hard time being happy. So what did we do?? WE SHARED THE GOSPEL. Boom. He is always a little busy but we will be passing by his house one of these days to teach him a message. Cute little old man.

So, I feel like I have so much to say but I dont know how to say any of it. ME FALTAN LAS PALABRAS. Les quiero un monton. Espero que esten bien y aunque va a ser muy dificil terminar yo se que todo estara bein. Cuidense!

Hna Miller

Ants in my pants!

Okay, so the title of this email might be a little strange but I couldnt help it. No matter how much bleach I use. No matter how much I sweep, here in ecuador THERE IS ALWAYS ANTS! Ants in my food, ants in my clothes, ants in my bed! Haha, always. Its okay, I will probably miss them when I get home... maybe.. haha

So this week I went to the temple with the sister that has been a little sick. She did baptismal work for her grandparents! It was a cool expirience. She wasnt doing to well so we had to sleep in the mission presidents house... and let me tell ya it was one of the coolest yet strangest expiriences of my entire life haha!! Not every missionary gets to eat breakfast with the mission president, haha. We went to guayaquil wednesday night, slept in the temple housing, thursday morning I had my last leadership meeting. It was hard to accept that it would be my last one. Here in this mission at the end of every official meeting we sing the missions hymn and this time I couldnt help but cry while we sang it. I love being a missionary so much, and time is just the worst enemy. Thursday at about 4 in the afternoon we went to the mission house and just hung out with the mission presidents wife. She made us chocolate chip cookies. We watched a church movie, it was so strange to be in a normal house. And even MORE strange to felt taken care of.... haha if that sounds weird lol I dont know, like.... someone made us cookies! haha... It was a fun expirience! It made me miss my mama. Haha

I cant believe how much time has gone by I know that when I go home I will be leaving a part of me here. Its a strange mixture of feelings but I know that I will be okay.

This week we had an entire FAMILY come to church, we hardly had any time to work but a whole entire family was able to come with us to church. I was so happy to see them there! I know God is mindful of each one of us. This week I will still be in and out of the house with this Sister but I know that I will do my best to keep the work moving forward!

See ya soon!

Love, Hna Miller

funny story!

Hey everyone!

Okay everybody, mom asked me for a funny story so here you go...

About 2 weeks ago me and my companion were walking in the street (in an area with businesses, big buildings, apartments, traffic, etc) when all of the sudden I hear MOOOOOOOOOOOOO and guess what? it was a VACA! haha or what you gringos call a cow! haha just stampeding through the town! haha it had escaped from a little farm about five minutes away and was just raging its way through the streets.. and me... being the silly gringa that I am wanted to take a picture of it. So what did we do? We followed the angry cow around trying to take a picture of it haha for like ten minutes BUT dont worry, in the end I did end up getting a picture of him. The funny part was when we lost track of it for a minute I walked up to a litle boy that had been watching him in the street and said ¨Excuse me.... have you seen my cow? He´s seemed to have escaped.¨hahaha and the look on this little kids face was priceless he was probably thinking like ¨what is this gringa doing with a cow??¨

Sorry its a story from two weeks ago this week nothing has happened. I am sister leader here and there is a sister that is sick with all kinds of problems and cant leave the house and so I am in charge of taking care of her. We were inside since friday so I didnt even go to church yesterday! haha I was actually kind of bummed because it was my last fast and testimony meeting as a missionary and I wasnt able to share my testimony. I was pretty bummed but I just let myself be sad for a minute and then I realized that I share my testimony multiple times everyday so I dont need to be sad.

I will be in and out of the house with her this week because she cant work very much. At first I was sad for the asignment because I only have 4 weeks left and I just wanna get out there and get work done but also I know president trusts me and I am willing to accept whatever asignment he gives me. Also, I just love the heck out of this sister and feel bad that she is passing through some hard stuff. We will be like this for one or two weeks more. But the good news is that we can go out and work a little, just not all day. 

Hna Espinoza (My comp) is working during the day with the companion of the sick sister. She is doing so good! She has learned so fast, and I am happy that I have been able to train her she is so great! 

I love you guys! I love my mission, and even though its hard to see it end Im ready to see you guys again!

Love, Hna Miller

Suerte

Well, haha I am now in my last transfer. I cant even believe it, its so strange to think that in such little time I will be heading home. I am the next group that leaves the mission.

This week has been... hmmmm... how do you say.. interesting? Haha all of the sicknesses that I COULDVE had during my mission decided to acumulate until the last couple months I think. Heat rash, infected in grown toenail, bug bites, stomache parasite you name it! (And people think sister missionaries are cute, HA) I am feeling lots better now haha but its been a little funny calling the nurses so much. Im sure they just love me.

As far as investigators we are still working hard to find people, but it will be alot easier this week because we are no longer in trio. Sister Rojas is gonna train so she went to Guayaquil to pick up her new companion and will be back on wednesday.

I miss the food from my last sector to tell ya the truth. Here they eat a LOT of mani (peanuts) and they put it on fish, in soups, in paste, haha you name it! But whatever, they still feed me a ton of rice so thats cool.

My companion (la chileana) teaches me lots of funny chilean words. And her accent is pretty silly sometimes. She is awesome.

This week I have been studying lots about the sons of mosiah! What have you been studying??

Love, Sister Miller

A change of Heart!

Hola mi familia!

Today, instead of Pday we had a Multi-Zone conference here in Portoviejo. President Dennis came with his wife and the asistants and it was actually really cool. We brought a sack-lunch and we heard a couple of messages. They talked about obedience (and lots more, but this part was my favorite) They talked about how us, as missionaries, need to raise the bar. Change. Become consecrated missionaries. How to really change, and be converted. I am (of course) excited to go home and see you guys. But la verdad, am truly heart broken to leave this part of my life behind. I am terrified that I will go home and fall back into the old "me" ... it isnt that I was a bad person, its just that God spent so much time and effort to make me who I am that I am scared that I will go home and forget that. 

Its not just the missionaries that need to raise the bar. The families of the church are under attack. We live in the time prophetized (haha.... I hope im not inventing words, English is hard) by the prophets of old and we need to do what we can to stay in the right path. Do I kneel to say my prayers? Do I do my family home evenings? Do I read the scriptures every day? Am I keeping the Sabbath Day Holy? These are questions I will be asking myself when I get home.

This week (we are still in trio) has been interestingly long. I read my email from the week pasada and realized just how sad it sounded. I just wanna take a minute and say PERDÓNENME. This week I realized what the problem was. ME. My attitude! I had lost sense of my purpose and started to see the negative in everything. Today helped me realize that maybe our result level is low. But if I truly TRUUUULY give it my best I can sleep peacefully at night knowing that God sees my efforts and I will be blessed for what I give here.

I may not have much time left but I will give all of my heart to this glorious work. I havent been the best missionary, the smartest, the strongest, the most obedient, the most succesful. BUT I CAN ALWAYS CHANGE. We are changing, all of us! Everyday! Its a decision that we make to be the best that we can. To truly become concecrated. I have made covenants with a God who WANTS to bless me. But literally CAN NOT do so unless I obey Him. Not only obey, but be happy doing it. 

This week was especially hard. There is a woman who´s name is Lorena. She is an amazing woman with so much faith. Last wednesday we extended a baptismal date and she accepted. To be baptized this 7th of november she would have to get married one week earlier. She is 42 years old, absolutely in love with her best friend who has lived with her for more than 15 years. He is sick with a variety of sicknesses and the thought of a temple marriage touched her heart. In her prayer before we left she said "anhelo casarme y bautizarme. Gracias padre por enviarme estas dos angeles." (She longs to get married and baptized. She thanked God for sending her two angels) after weeks of looking and searching we found someone who was willing to progress... but that night Lorena was sent to the emergency room. She had a stroke. 

She is okay, and is now in therapy and is at home as well.

We dont know why the things that happen, happen. But I am sure that God is loving. And all knowing, and He will make sure that everything turns out right. 

This week (once again) my perspective has changed. Maybe the results I want arent here yet. Maybe my goals are just out of reach... maybe the sector is still hard, the sun is still strong, my companions are still imperfect, and I am still impatient...... But my attitude is different. I know that I will be going home soon. But I also know, and promise that with the little time that I have left I will give all that I have. In hopes to some how repay God even the smallest portion of what I owe him. Ive spent all of my mission in hopes of becoming the "perfect" missionary or what we call a "concecrated" missionary. But I have FINALLY realized something....Being a concecrated missionary isnt the goal. The goal is to give it our all, to work hard everyday, to stay focused, and in the process of doing so we truly become converted and concecrated. Its inevitable. I, with all my many imperfections, will become a little bit more like my Savior.

Im sorry that this email is so long, and maybe a little preachy.... but I truly hope that you guys can read and think about what ive said. and to my missionary friends reading this... if there is no time to read all of this now print it out and read it later. I hope that in some way, Ive been able to help.

Even though we are all far away, I know that our love for God keeps us close.

Loves!

Hna Miller

Refiners Fire

Well, here we are again, la verdad, I cant believe its already Monday.TIME IS GOING SO FAST! Chutica no se como es Pday otra vez.

This week we were able to go to the temple! Woohoo! We were able to do a session and it was just what I needed. The truth is things here in La Paz 2 havent gotten any easier. We are really sturggling finding people to teach but the work must go on! There have been many times this week were all I wanted to do was just give up. Sit down on the curb, and cry. But I look around and see alllllll these people that need this gospel and know that I must keep looking and searching! I know that there are people here who need us! They are just really good at hiding! haha This sector feels like my final trial, haha the refiners fire to finally polish me up before going home.

Thanks for the emails and pictures, My email will be a little shorter today and Im not sure if I will have time to respond to all of your emails because I had difficulties in opening my account and now I dont have very much time left (and I wanna send pics haha)

My companion is really great. She is obedient and works hard and tries her best everyday to contribute. Im pretty sure she thinks im super weird though haha she is a little on the serious side and as you guys know.... Im not very serious hahaha.. ut whatever, She loves me.

Today we are going to a mall outside of our sector to eat cheese cake. hahahahaha Dont judge, I will lose weight when I get home. DEJENME SER FELIZ! haha

I love the fact that I speak spanish, sabe? Its so much fun! 

Love you all! Pray for you too... Love,

Sister Miller

I will be bald!

So, stress is causing my hair to fall out. Isnt that cute? haha 

Im just gonna be coming home one hot mess... hahaha 

This week was a long one. I feel like Im working working working but Im still not seeing progress. This sector is really different than my other sectors and I feel like its the final "refiners fire" haha the last test! I know that my Padre Celestial wants me to learn so much, and he loves me SO much that he is willing to let me pass through hard times to become stronger, and more like his son Jesus Christ. BUT dont worry I still plaster a smile on my face even if I dont feel like smiling. I know my companion looks up to me (I dont understand why) and I feel the responsability to be a good example to her. 

ALSO she has had a rough week. THERE WAS A HUGE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE! and a Tsunami! Everyone was freaking out thinking that the tsunami was gonna come to Ecuador and all this stuff. It freaked her out pretty bad... but then she felt better because someone looked up on internet for us where it was at and all that stuff. And turns out where she lives wasnt affected that much. They felt the earthquake but everything was okay...She said dont worry, my family is fine. Im just glad they werent in Santiago. I asked her why and she said, because Santiago would have been affected more. WHAT! I KNOW SOMEONE IN SANTIAGO!! haha (Someone kinda important...haha) and so I was a little freaked out (still am) I hope everything is okay over there. But anyways... so that was interesting aswell. Enough about my worries, how are you guys?? haha

Its really nice living with other sisters. Its always a little more fun when youve got other people to talk to aswell. The other day I taught the Latina sisters in my house what a rootbeer float is. But there isnt any rootbeer here so I used strawberry ice cream and a tropical soda. It worked out pretty good haha

This week we are gonna go to the temple... Im super excited because its well needed. Haha 

I love the mission. I love God. I love this work.

Hermana Miller

Surprise Transfers!

Well, just like the title of this email says... I had transfers! It came as a huge surprise! Right now I am in guayaquil... until about wednesday! BUT SO MANY CRAZY THINGS!

They closed my sector and opened it up again with two new sisters. Hermana Moya is now in my old sector Mapasingue with my old companion Hermana Velez finishing her training. I am going to be OPENING SECTOR and TRAINING annnnd I have a new calling as Sister Leader. Instead of being incharge of four sisters im incharge of EIGHT!!!!

Opening sector means that we are starting from zero. Like... I have never been to that place before and neither has my companion. We have zero investigators, no contacts, references, nada! haha I have absolutely no idea where to start. Needless to say, pray for me! (which I already know that you do, haha) I am honored and excited for this new calling. It means that Presidente Dennis (And the Lord) trust in me to be able to do it. Iknow with there help- I can! and will do anything the Lord asks me to do. 

I was really sad to leave my old sector. I had been there 7 months! Thats the longest time ive been in one sector! normally I was only there for about 4 months. I love Esperanza, and we had to leave behind a kid named Cristofer who will be getting baptized this Saturday. He cried when we told him that we werent gonna beable to be in his baptism but he assured us that someone else needed us more. It was SO HARD to say goodbye to the people there.... haha but I made them a promise (and I pray everyday that I can complete it) that I will come back someday! 

My new sector is called Portoviejo, La Paz 2. I have absolutely no idea what its like. BUT I heard that house has hot water! WOOHOO!! Haha, we will be four sisters living together and its about 4 hours outside of Guayaquil... so even FARTHER away! haha its in the North I think. Lol I will get there on Thursday I think! 

Right now I just have a temporary companion, haha I will be working in La Florida Guayaquil until my new "hija" comes! 

I love you all! These weeks certainly have been a trial of faith but it just shows just how much God really trusts in someone as self-conscious and imperfect as me! I am happy! Honored, Stressed, but super happy!

Thats just the life of the mission I guess.

Starting a new chapter!

-Hermana Miller

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Do you guys remember how much I HATE feet? well, my feelings for them have grown even stronger. Sooooo I wasn't very smart. I totally had an ingrown toenail for like... 3 months but I was dumb and didnt tell anyone, haha then one day I thought to myself, I can take care of this myself! and I "fixed" the problem, but it came back! and it came back angry! haha... so this week I went to the doctor and they had to cut out a little piece of my toe....without numbing it! haha talk about uncomfortable! haha I would send pics but this computer has a virus... so you guys will have to wait!

Other than that, this Saturday we had a baptism. Her name is Mylin :) She is 10 years old and her parents were less active, so we worked with the family and she was able to get baptized! she was really nervous but she was just fine, they had to dunk her like four times because everytime they put her under the water she shot her hand up haha.. it was funny!

I love and miss you guys, can you believe that in just 14 weeks I will be home?? How strange!

Things with my companion have been interesting, I can tell God wants me to learn patience haha (I just hope I develop patience faster HAHA)

Have a good week everyone!

Sister Miller 

Another week down!

Well, my time is starting to tick down. You would think that as I got more experience the mission would be easier right?? haha Well, I did too.. but this week has been difficult.

Sometimes its hard to stay positive. Its really hard training, and even harder with someone who isnt really used to the culture or mission life. Ive felt pretty alone this week, until something happened!

One day we walked from the morning all the way to five at nigt because no one would let us in, or they werent home. My companion just complained the whole time asking me why the people wouldnt let us in, why did I make us walk so much, that we dont have any good investigators, that I shouldve planned better, la la la... I know she does it just because she doesnt understand yet, and I imagine that day was harder for her than it was for me. Now, I feel bad about it but at the time I was pretty self-pittying. and it got to the point where I knocked on an investigators door and she told me she was too busy right now and closed the door... and I just stood there. There was no where else to go. I could feel tears stinging in my eyes, and a lump in the back of my throat. I wanted to cry so badly..... but I just wiped my eyes and we kept walking.

I just said a quick prayer and immediately I felt better. We walked with a little more purpose in our step as we tried to find someone to teach. I have had days like that my whole mission but I had forgotten something really important that day, I forgot to just enjoy it. Only for this time of my life would I be a full time missionary walking in the dusty dirt roads of Ecuador! Why wasn't I enjoying it? Because pretty soon I am gonna miss is so bad all I will do is dream about coming back here.

Sometimes in this life we get to a point where we "Just cant wait until..:" Like, I just cant wait to finish high school! I just cant wait untill the weekend! I just cant wait until im married, or happy, or done with whatever thing it is we are dealing with! And before we know it everything's over and we would give anything to go back and live it again. Don't wait until its over to love it! Enjoy every day, God gave it to you for a reason!

I love you guys so much! I love my mission (and my companion) even though we drive each other absolutely crazy. I know I have some patience to learn, and God is just giving me a chance to do so.

Love, Sister Miller

p.s. enjoy Hawaii this week! lol Im super jealous

 

my new companion!

Now What???? Ha Ha Ha!

Well, Emily is married! I cant even believe it! This is so weird.... sometimes I forget how long ive been here until reality just hits me in the face. The pictures look amazing! 

Well, here I am. 15 pounds heavier, covered in acne and funny tan lines and huge calf muscles. Haha, Im a keeper! 

This week was a longer one. Training is super hard, to tell the truth, probably one of the hardest things Ive had to do on my whole mission. I know its a calling from God but I can certainly tell he wants me to learn a lot of things, primarily patience.

God helps us everyday, sometimes you just gotta look a little harder!

In my personal study ive been focusing a lot on christlike attributes, I feel like I dont have enough time to learn all the stuff that God needs me to learn but I try my hardest everyday to keep a smile on my face and count my blessings. Freezing cold shower again? At least I have water. Dead fly in my soup? Extra proteine. Haha.... my oh my...... Lol

But the truth is Ecuador is amazing. The mission isnt anything that I thought itd be, but everything that I needed. 

I love you guys! haha dont forget about me, or I might just buy a house and stay here, lol

Just kidding

love, Sister Miller

I am going to have a baby!, Well....Not Really!

Okay, so Im kind of freaking out. TRANSFERS CAME! Sister Velez was transfered. They called us at 11:00 at night and we packed until about 1 o'clock in the morning and got up at like 4:30 to go to the bus terminal. BUT... PLOT TWIST.... I wouldnt be traveling with her to pick up my new companion. I will be staying and working with Hermana Hobbs until wednesday... Why? You may ask! Because our companions havent arrived yet... I was so confused when they told me that... but what they were trying to say is... WE ARE GONNA TRAIN! Haha My companion is gonna be fresh from the MTC and I will be her trainer. asdjfhñasdfhañishfkasjdfhas I just about had a heart attack. Hahaha, the reason the title of this email is "Im gonna have a baby" is because when someone enters the mission field we say that they were "born" and when they leave they "die" haha and the trainers are like moms or dads hahaha.... so its official. Im a mom. Lol

Im gonna miss hermana Velez alot. But it was cool being her companion. I learned so much with her. This week went by soooooooooooooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooow. No one came to church, and we dont really have any progressing. We just need to find more people. Ive got alot of work ahead of me!! But BRING IT ON! hahaha

I miss you guys so much, and love you even more. Thanks for always writing me :) You guys make me happy haha... I feel like so much has happened and so many things have changed. And it freaks me out quite a bit haha, but I know that everything will be okay. I miss you all BASTANTE... but I know I am in good hands.

Les quiero mucho!!

Love, Sister Miller

Have any questions for me????

A MEMBER SEWED THIS BEAUTIFUL DRESS FOR MEGAN!

LOOKS GREAT!

THIS IS DURING A LESSON MEGAN WAS TEACHING. :)

MEGAN FELT A CONNECTION WITH JESSICA AS SHE COLORED HER COMPANIONS HAIR!!! LOL

NOT SURE? LOL!

REUNITED WITH HERMANA HOBBS WHILE BOTH ARE AWAITING THEIR NEW COMPANIONS!

(CCM Companion)