Bienvenidos a Ecuador!

Hola de Ecuador!

Im alive and well! Haha I am super tired and dont have much time but I was told to get on and tell you that my new Pday is on Mondays. So expect to hear from me then. I am going to be super busy here but I love it! It is BEAUTIFUL and ive already seen so much. including three iguanas!

My new address for letters and packages: use this one!

Hermana Megan Elizabeth Miller

Mision Ecuador Guayaquil Oeste

Casilla De Correo 09-04-206

Guayaquil, Guayas

Ecuador

packages HAVE to be less than four pounds or else they will cost a ton! I will explain more later so email me your questions! I LOVE YOU ALL.

-Hermana Miller... a REAL missionary!



Bienvenidos a Ecuador!

Well, its really hot here... which sucks because everyone keeps telling me its winter! They think I am crazy for thinking it is hot, they are always saying they are cold.

Ecuador is CRAZY different. You dont understand poverty until youve seen a third world country. Some houses have dirt floors, most are tin roofs, boarded up windows.. its crazy! I will try to get pictures to you sometime.

Right now I am sitting in a cyber sweating, trying to type as fast as I can! Haha my  companions name is Hermana Zarate (pronounced like Karate) she know a tiny tiny bit of Englsh, but not enough for us to communicate in English. Its really hard sometimes because I dont really have anyone to talk to. I just have to learn fast!

When I got off the plane I felt like the guy from the movie ¨"The best two years" ..... "this isnt the language I learned in the MTC" I pretty much feel like a sweaty idiot most of the day hahaha.. whatever.

Also, funny stuff.. the people here are obsessed with my eyes, skin, and hair... They get commented on all the time. Most of the time by creepy old men.

For example, we were contacting this guy asking him if he would be interested in listening to our message and of course.. me being a gringa, i didnt understand a word he was saying. after we said goodbye and walked away my companion said.. "I hate creepers" turns ouyt he was telling her he was in love with me and wouldnt only let us teachhim if I was the one who cam and he said "I think im in love with one of Gods sheep... thats a bad thing" hahahahaha oh boy.... also there are these trucks that drive around full of coconuts and this guy has a megaphone sayng "come buy coconuts, come buy coconuts..." and yesterday one drives by really slow and he says on his megaphone "EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS BEAUSTIFUL WOMAN, EVERYONE LOOK AT THE GIRL WITH BLONDE HAIR"... so ya ... If youre wondering.,.. I dont fit in. haha

A cute litttle girl asked if the reason my skin was white is because I drink a lot of milk. Haha funny stuff.

AND GUESS WHAT I went to the temple! Guayaquil temple! We got to do a session in Spanish! I wore a little translater headphone thing though, but I had to speak spanish! and I was sweaty so I felt weird to be in the temple.

ALSO I HAVE TWO BAPTISMS ALREADY. I really didnt teach much, because its hard for me to speak,  my companion did it mostly but I was the one to iinvite them and they excepted! For the 9th of august. :)

Yesterday for breakfast at an investigators house we ate Encebollado.... fish and onion soup. It wasnt gross.. but I could definietly go my whole life without eating it again. hahaha

I am always sweaty, and always tired, but im doing well.

This is a whole lot harder than I thought it would be. Its hard to explain, because you have to have expirienced it to understand it, but its hard. Different culture entirely, food, people, and I dont know how to communicate, I miss you guys so much but know that I am doing fine! Some days are harder than others but no matter what I was called here for a reason!

I hope I can catch the language fast because I am so lost. 

Love, Hna Miller

Awesome Missionaries!

From the Senior Missionaries Brother and Sister Jones:


My husband and I are Senior Missionaries at the Mexico MTC.  During the past six weeks, we have grown to love your wonderful missionaries!  I miss them already!

I thought you would enjoy seeing their district picture and the departure tribute.

GAH!

FLIGHT SCHEDULE!

Monday night at 10:00 I will head to the bus station here at the CCM

10:15 we load up the bus and drive to the airport

My flight leaves at 2:15 in the morning on a big normal airplane

We arrive to Bogota Columbia at around 6:40 am

At 8:35 we board a tiny little scary plane and head to Guayaquil

we arrive at 10:25 am

I´m gonna be soooo tired haha 

anyways... I will be able to email you again on monday before I leave.

As for the calling... I have NO idea if I will beable to. So would you guys even want me to? It will be at really weird times because it will either be in Mexico waiting at my flight or in Columbia . so either way it will be REALLY early in the morning. because I cant call when im in guayaquil because we take a taxi to the mission home!

EEEEK im scared. Please send lots of prayers my way haha

(DAY OF DEPARTURE FROM THE CCM)

I leave today! I'm kinda sorta freaking out haha I am scarred outta my mind. But SUPER SUPER excited! I wont get to email you until next Monday annnnnd the calling thing is looking like less and less of a possibility. I will try my best though! I love you so much and will be thinking about all of you while traveling!

Les Amo! I love you all! Thank you for all the prayers! Its gonna be a rough night and a hard transition! I´m gonna try my hardest as a missionary and I know that the Lord will make up for whatever I lack! 

ECUADOR HERE I COME!

Yo se que este evangelio es verdadero. Yo se que yo tenere muchas pruebas durante mi mision. Pero mediante fe en Jesucristo todas las cosas en esta vida son posible! Yo amo esta iglesia, yo se que Cristo vive! Yo he sentido su espiritu en mi vida y yo estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad a compartir este mensaje con las personas estan en Ecuador. Yo tengo miedo... MUCHISIMO. Pero Yo tengo un corazon de amor, y fe en Jesucristo. Este testimonio es la razon yo estoy aqui. Yo amo Mexico, y mi distrito 10-B pero es tiempo para un otro parte de mi vida! Les Amo mucho!

Hermana Miller

The final count dooown!

Well, this is it. I leave the CCM this Monday at about 10:00 at night!

I am so excited to leave, and to have at least a LITTLE more freedom, but terrified nonetheless!

Jessica was right, I will not be flying in a big airplane to Ecuador. I take a big normal airplane to Bogota Columbia, and then get on a little baby plane to fly into Guayaquil... hahaha... so ya. That is a little bit of scary news. Dont worry though, I will just strap myself on to the hay bale and sit next to some goats and chickens. Haha just kidding I dont think it will be THAT bad... but it will be pretty weird.

Also, now mom... Dont get your hopes up... but I MIGHT be able to call you from the airport! The deal is though its going to be pretty hard to tell you when.. haha I leave here at 10:00 at night and my flight from Mexico leaves at 2:15 in the morning... I might call you from Mexico (most likely)  or I might call in between flights, but I might not have time to during my layover. The problem is though I don't know how any of it works and they dont really tell you anything about it.. so please PRETTY please don't get your hopes up! I gotta figure out money stuff and time stuff still but I hope I can call you before 2:00 in the morning if that's okay lol

Fourth of July here was funny! All the Americans wore red white and blue and during lunch we walked in and the cooks had put out red white and blue table cloths! It was seriously the cutest thing ever, They made BBQ chicken and french fries and corn on the Cobb and some apple pie! They even had someone lead us in the national anthem. It was the cutest thing ever, it made me all teary eyed because they said "Even though you are far from home and families we wanted to surprise you with this little piece of home" It was so nice.

Yesterday was pretty cool because me and my companion were hostesses for all the new missionary so we wore a funny hostess badge thingy and helped missionaries check-in, go through orientation, and  find there houses and companions. It made me feel so old haha I cant believe I have been here for six weeks already, my time is up! I feel so nervous.

I feel ready to leave but not ready to go... if that makes sense my spanish isn't ANYWHERE as close as I wish it was and I am just sad to leave my companion and my roommates. They are like family to me.

okay haha... so funny story here. This girl from Hawaii had SUPER long hair, and wanted to get it cut to a super short a-line and heard that my companion cuts hair, so she asked if she´d do it. We were all just hanging out talking and chatting on pday and she comes over to get her hair done and Hna Hobbs says she is gonna just put it in a ponytail and chop off the big hunk of length so I was all "OMGSH CAN I DO IT?" and the girl is super chill so she is like sure I dont care... she knew that I had never done it before... but was totally okay with it! (brave girl) haha so yup. Thats what I did today.. I chopped off this girls ponytail! Jess would be proud! Obviously afterwards Hna Hobbs did the rest and made it all pretty and such... Just thought Id share. haha It was so much fun!

I feel ready to leave but not ready to go... if that makes sense my spanish isn't ANYWHERE as close as I wish it was and I am just sad to leave my companion and my roommates. They are like family to me

Hermana Miller was so excited this Hermana let her cut her pony tail off! Brave girl!

she labeled this one "purple blanky"

Les amo mucho!

-Hna Miller

I will be on again at about 5:30 to answer questions about flight plans! Bye!

Gym Struggles, hahaha!

Okay so, we all know I am not the star athlete of the family, but I´d say I was doing pretty great all up until the point where I got a volleyball spiked directly to my face! Hahaha... and guess who it was from? Brayden Connor! From Lakeville, it seriously hurt so bad haha but I just laughed it off and it was more of a blow to my pride than to my face. Hahaha... just thinking about it makes me laugh.. and the fact that it was from someone I actually know makes it even funnier. He apologized lots and felt really bad but it was funny, and the good news? No black eye!

Also, this one will make Mariah proud, My companion Hna. Hobbs LOVES working out, like A LOT. haha and so yesterday she taught me all kinds of weightlifting stuff. Needless to say.. I feel like a limp noodle. My arms are so sore! haha I dont know how you do it girl! 

AND GUESS WHAT I can pretty much do the splits now, so thats cool. The Hermanas I live with are cheerleaders/dancers so they are pretty determined to help me figure this out. I´m actually pretty flexible!

Im starting to get super nervous for the mission field. I leave here on the 15th so I dont have very much time left, I DON'T FEEL READY. I hope the spanish comes soon, haha praying for a miracle! also, we are really spoiled here, we dont cook, we dont clean, and I just am loving the CCM. My district and companion are super fun and easy to work with... I have a feeling im in for some trouble!

Being a missionary is really hard, even in the MTC, but I decided that living without the gospel would be a whole heck of a lot harder! So I gotta go kick Satans Butt!

"La fe es el poder, la obedencia is el precio, el amor es el motivo, el espiritu es la clave, y Jesucristo es la razon!"

"Faith is the power, obedience is the price, love is the motivation, spirit is the key, and Jesus Christ is the Reason!"

These have been the hardest five weeks of my life, but I just think of how happy this gospel makes me and all the blessings I have BECAUSE of it and that thought keeps me going!

XOXOXO,

Hna Miller

p.s. Hna Hobbs cut my hair today and it is REALLY cute, not different by much just needed to be freshened up. BUT it made me miss Jess so much! I love and miss you all!

 haircutby Hermana Hobbs!

 sleepy!

 Love!

 it rains a TON here!

mas lluvia!