Here is the new and improved meetinghouse directions for Alaina's homecoming. This is not the same church as the one for her farewell. Yes, we have changed again.
4484 Willoughby Dr.
South Jordan, UT 84095
Remember the meeting starts at 9:00 a.m.
Directions from our house: 11753 S. 4080 W., South Jordan, UT 84095
1. Head north on 4080 W. towards Harvest Moon Dr. (1st intersection)
2. Turn right on Harvest Moon Dr., eastbound
3. Turn left on 4000 W., northward
4. Drive through intersection with 11400 S., continue northward
5. Drive past LDS temple
6. Turn left at 10400 S., westbound (next traffic light)
7. Turn right at Lac Vieux Rd. (last right before roundabout)
8. Go through intersection with Clark's Hill Dr.
9. Turn left at Willoughby Dr. (next left)
10. Turn right into Church's parking lot
If you want to go directly to the church and don't need to stop at our house first, then just take Bangerter Hwy to 10400 South and turn westbound. Then follow the steps 7 through 10. You cannot mapquest this address because it is too new. It will send you to some strange incorrect address.
If you have questions or if you get lost, just give one of us a call. Hope to see you there on Sunday.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Directions to the Homecoming
Dear Family and Friends,
Okay so the address to the meetinghouse is
4484 Willoughby Dr
SOUTH JORDAN, UTAH, 84095
Again the meeting will begin at 9:00a.m.
Directions from our house to chapel.
11753 S 4080 W South Jordan, UT 84095
1. Head north on S 4080 W toward W 11710 S/W 11720 S/Harvest Creek Way/Harvest Moon Dr 256 ft
2. Take the 1st right onto W 11710 S/W 11720 S/Harvest Creek Way/Harvest Moon Dr 0.1 mi
3. Turn left at S 4000 W 0.4 mi
4. Turn left at W 11400 S 0.6 mi
5. At the traffic circle, take the 1st exit onto S Oquirrh Lake Rd 1.1 mi
6. At the traffic circle, continue straight to stay on S Oquirrh Lake Rd 0.1 mi
7. Turn right 292 ft
8. Turn left 138 ft
9. Take the 1st right Destination will be on the left 269 ft
LDS Church South Jordan Ut 4484 W Willoughby South Jordan, UT 84095
Hope to see you there,
Mills Family
Okay so the address to the meetinghouse is
4484 Willoughby Dr
SOUTH JORDAN, UTAH, 84095
Again the meeting will begin at 9:00a.m.
Directions from our house to chapel.
11753 S 4080 W South Jordan, UT 84095
1. Head north on S 4080 W toward W 11710 S/W 11720 S/Harvest Creek Way/Harvest Moon Dr 256 ft
2. Take the 1st right onto W 11710 S/W 11720 S/Harvest Creek Way/Harvest Moon Dr 0.1 mi
3. Turn left at S 4000 W 0.4 mi
4. Turn left at W 11400 S 0.6 mi
5. At the traffic circle, take the 1st exit onto S Oquirrh Lake Rd 1.1 mi
6. At the traffic circle, continue straight to stay on S Oquirrh Lake Rd 0.1 mi
7. Turn right 292 ft
8. Turn left 138 ft
9. Take the 1st right Destination will be on the left 269 ft
LDS Church South Jordan Ut 4484 W Willoughby South Jordan, UT 84095
Hope to see you there,
Mills Family
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Homecoming Talk
Dear Family and Friends,
As you know I had to return from my mission early. I am ever grateful for the time I was allowed to serve as a missionary. My homecoming is scheduled to occur on the 20th of February at 9:00a.m. All are welcome to come. There will be brunch following the meeting. Please RSVP for food assignments. The church building has changed, again. So the new address of the building will be sent out soon. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Alaina Mills
P.S. Also as a special note. Eric is officially engaged to Kendra Ames. Their wedding will be on June 11th.
As you know I had to return from my mission early. I am ever grateful for the time I was allowed to serve as a missionary. My homecoming is scheduled to occur on the 20th of February at 9:00a.m. All are welcome to come. There will be brunch following the meeting. Please RSVP for food assignments. The church building has changed, again. So the new address of the building will be sent out soon. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Alaina Mills
P.S. Also as a special note. Eric is officially engaged to Kendra Ames. Their wedding will be on June 11th.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Unexpected
Dear Friends and Family,
First, I just want to thank everyone for all the love and support. Due to some recent medical challenges it became necessary for me to return home from my mission. I flew home on Tuesday the 25th of January and was honorably released from my mission due to medical reasons. Originally we were hoping to have me recover while on my mission. But I have increasingly become worse and we came to realize that the best thing for me would be to come home. It has been hard to say the least. But the spirit has strongly witnessed to my Mission President, the Stake President, a General Authority and me that the Lord was pleased with my service and that I needed to return home. I have cherished the memories and people I was able to meet on my mission. So many people have touched my heart there and I will never be the same. The lessons I have learned on my mission will benefit me for the rest of my life.
And now as I embark on a journey I never wanted or expected, I take courage in the knowledge that this is the Lord’s will. Sometimes his plans for our lives are different than what we expected, but his plan is always for the better. I know as we have faith and trust in the Lord, he never leaves our side. That has become very real to me, especially in this difficult time. I am also so blessed to have the love and support of so many friends and family. I am working with my doctors, and we are very positive that I will make a full recovery. I thank-you, in advance, for the support and love as we, my family and I, are adjusting to this change.
May the Lord bless and guide you in your lives.
With Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
First, I just want to thank everyone for all the love and support. Due to some recent medical challenges it became necessary for me to return home from my mission. I flew home on Tuesday the 25th of January and was honorably released from my mission due to medical reasons. Originally we were hoping to have me recover while on my mission. But I have increasingly become worse and we came to realize that the best thing for me would be to come home. It has been hard to say the least. But the spirit has strongly witnessed to my Mission President, the Stake President, a General Authority and me that the Lord was pleased with my service and that I needed to return home. I have cherished the memories and people I was able to meet on my mission. So many people have touched my heart there and I will never be the same. The lessons I have learned on my mission will benefit me for the rest of my life.
And now as I embark on a journey I never wanted or expected, I take courage in the knowledge that this is the Lord’s will. Sometimes his plans for our lives are different than what we expected, but his plan is always for the better. I know as we have faith and trust in the Lord, he never leaves our side. That has become very real to me, especially in this difficult time. I am also so blessed to have the love and support of so many friends and family. I am working with my doctors, and we are very positive that I will make a full recovery. I thank-you, in advance, for the support and love as we, my family and I, are adjusting to this change.
May the Lord bless and guide you in your lives.
With Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
So it is official I am in my new area. This area is called, Hafer. It is called Hafer after Hafer road where the mission office is. Yes, the mission office is in my area. I am in the Houston Zone now in the Houston 6th ward. My previous ward was Woodlands 3rd ward. It broke off of this Houston 6 ward. My new ward is a lot bigger than my old ward. We actually fill the chapel. So they will have to open the overflow whether they want to or not. I say this because Latinos always seem to sit so close to one another. We have some great members here. But more than half of the ward is not allowed to go out with us. Because when they changed bishops the last time. There was a member who wanted to be bishop and started gathering a following. I am serious. Like he was gathering a group who were going to not listen to the bishop and do what they wanted to do instead. Uprising, how dramatic. The ward is all together. The stake put those members in their place. But it was crazy from what I hear. So my companion and I and 2 Elders serve in this ward. We cover the west side of the ward and they cover the east. It is nice not to be the only missionaries in the ward anymore.
Also this ward feeds us on a regular basis. We have weekly dinners with like four families a week. The same families. They want to feed us and insist that we come over. There would have been more, but we aren't allowed to go over to those families who were involved in the uprising. So my new companion's name is Miriam Rodriguez. She is from Guatemala. So needless to say her spanish is amazing. She is helping learn a lot more. I am grateful for her help. She is a very chill kind of person. She is the youngest of 2 children. She has an older brother. Her mother and father and brother now live in California. But she and her brother were raised in Guatemala by their grandparents. Her English is pretty good. I actually help her with that as well. So we help each other with the language. She has a fiancee in Guatemala named Angel Eli Rodriguez. He asked her to marry him right before she left on her mission. He is waiting for her in Guatemala. She plans on marrying him about 6 months after her mission. She has been on her mission now for 10 months. She goes home the end of September. We are getting along pretty well. We keep working hard teaching and finding.
My new address is
14131 Cornerstone Village Dr.
North Bend Apartments #1003
Houston, TX 77014
I love you all and miss you all. Be safe and stay close to the Lord.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
So it is official I am in my new area. This area is called, Hafer. It is called Hafer after Hafer road where the mission office is. Yes, the mission office is in my area. I am in the Houston Zone now in the Houston 6th ward. My previous ward was Woodlands 3rd ward. It broke off of this Houston 6 ward. My new ward is a lot bigger than my old ward. We actually fill the chapel. So they will have to open the overflow whether they want to or not. I say this because Latinos always seem to sit so close to one another. We have some great members here. But more than half of the ward is not allowed to go out with us. Because when they changed bishops the last time. There was a member who wanted to be bishop and started gathering a following. I am serious. Like he was gathering a group who were going to not listen to the bishop and do what they wanted to do instead. Uprising, how dramatic. The ward is all together. The stake put those members in their place. But it was crazy from what I hear. So my companion and I and 2 Elders serve in this ward. We cover the west side of the ward and they cover the east. It is nice not to be the only missionaries in the ward anymore.
Also this ward feeds us on a regular basis. We have weekly dinners with like four families a week. The same families. They want to feed us and insist that we come over. There would have been more, but we aren't allowed to go over to those families who were involved in the uprising. So my new companion's name is Miriam Rodriguez. She is from Guatemala. So needless to say her spanish is amazing. She is helping learn a lot more. I am grateful for her help. She is a very chill kind of person. She is the youngest of 2 children. She has an older brother. Her mother and father and brother now live in California. But she and her brother were raised in Guatemala by their grandparents. Her English is pretty good. I actually help her with that as well. So we help each other with the language. She has a fiancee in Guatemala named Angel Eli Rodriguez. He asked her to marry him right before she left on her mission. He is waiting for her in Guatemala. She plans on marrying him about 6 months after her mission. She has been on her mission now for 10 months. She goes home the end of September. We are getting along pretty well. We keep working hard teaching and finding.
My new address is
14131 Cornerstone Village Dr.
North Bend Apartments #1003
Houston, TX 77014
I love you all and miss you all. Be safe and stay close to the Lord.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10th, 2011 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello!! Well this has been a pretty average week overall. One thing I will say about Hispanics is they really love their vacation time. A lot of our appointments this week were rescheduled because many people still had family over finishing up their holidays. But our next week here in the Woodlands is already packed with appointments. We have an investigator here who is close to getting baptized, but refuses to set a date. He says he is waiting on God to give him the date. Some people don't like to make any decisions on their own. This investigator also says he won't get baptized unless I am there at the baptism. This brings me to the big news.
I got transferred!!! I am going to a new area with a new companion. My new companions name is Hermana Rodriguez. She is from Guatemala. So yeah my Spanish is going to soar!! Whohoa!! This will be nice, because with this last companion, I felt like I knew more Spanish than she did. She is going home in three transfers. She goes home in May. But it is all good. We all have our own struggles on the mission. Well I don't have the address yet for my new apartment, so just send any letters to the mission office address for now. Here in the Woodlands, we are surrounded by English speaking Elders. We are the only Spanish speakers. In my new area, we are in a district with all Spanish speakers. This means we will get to have Spanish study together. Also, my old MTC companions are in my district. Weirdly enough my two MTC companions are now companions again in a trio with another more experienced Hermana, Hermana Maylett. Hermana Maylett goes home in two transfers. It will be so cool to see my old MTC companions more. And there will be other missionaries covering the ward I am in. Yeah, I am no longer in charge of a whole Ward in regards to missionary work. So needless to say, I am excited. I will give you more details next week.
Stay safe everyone. I love and miss all of you!!
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Hello!! Well this has been a pretty average week overall. One thing I will say about Hispanics is they really love their vacation time. A lot of our appointments this week were rescheduled because many people still had family over finishing up their holidays. But our next week here in the Woodlands is already packed with appointments. We have an investigator here who is close to getting baptized, but refuses to set a date. He says he is waiting on God to give him the date. Some people don't like to make any decisions on their own. This investigator also says he won't get baptized unless I am there at the baptism. This brings me to the big news.
I got transferred!!! I am going to a new area with a new companion. My new companions name is Hermana Rodriguez. She is from Guatemala. So yeah my Spanish is going to soar!! Whohoa!! This will be nice, because with this last companion, I felt like I knew more Spanish than she did. She is going home in three transfers. She goes home in May. But it is all good. We all have our own struggles on the mission. Well I don't have the address yet for my new apartment, so just send any letters to the mission office address for now. Here in the Woodlands, we are surrounded by English speaking Elders. We are the only Spanish speakers. In my new area, we are in a district with all Spanish speakers. This means we will get to have Spanish study together. Also, my old MTC companions are in my district. Weirdly enough my two MTC companions are now companions again in a trio with another more experienced Hermana, Hermana Maylett. Hermana Maylett goes home in two transfers. It will be so cool to see my old MTC companions more. And there will be other missionaries covering the ward I am in. Yeah, I am no longer in charge of a whole Ward in regards to missionary work. So needless to say, I am excited. I will give you more details next week.
Stay safe everyone. I love and miss all of you!!
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, January 3rd Letter
Group Shot from Christmas Conference
Dear Family and Friends,So I have a New Year's Surprise!!!! We had a baptism!!!! On the 2nd of January one of our long time investigators was baptized. He was found in a Jack-in-the-Box. He said that he usually goes through the drive-thru, but on this day he wanted to go inside and he didn't know why. He went inside and saw three white girls with tags that were in spanish. He is from Colombia but very much Americanized. He speaks better English than Spanish. But he likes associating himself with the Latino population. So he asked the girls if they spoke spanish. They replied to him in Spanish that in fact they did. He was so surprised and intrigued. To make a long story short he came to church the next day and has been an investigator ever since. He has been ready to be baptized since July but there was always an excuse. He wanted his family who were in Colombia to be here. When they were finally here he had taken a new job that makes him travel. He would still go to church wherever he was. We would have lessons over the phone with him. So he finally decided that the next time he got off time for work he wanted to be baptized. So they began teaching him in February of 2010 and he was baptized January of 2011. He is a very sweet guy. He is 44 years old. He was a Marine and loves to watch the Discovery channel. His name is Guillermo. (William in English) We had a lot of visiting Hermanas at his baptism because they had all taught him at one point.
It was a very nice service. They bishopric decided they wanted to have a musical number right before the actual baptism. They didn't tell us they wanted this until the day of the baptism. So no one wanted to or couldn't put together a musical number that fast so my companion and I put something together. We didn't even practice. We were copying the programs. We just picked a hymn and talked through what we would do. Then we just did it. Everyone said it was beautiful. I had someone come up to me and asked if I had studied music before. It was a nice way to bring the spirit in. We also had two investigators at the baptism that we hope will be baptized soon. I pray all of you had a very Happy New Year!! New Years I was sleeping and working on a baptism book. We had to be in by dusk which is like 5:30 ish here.
Love you all,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27th, 2010 LETTER
Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year one and all!!! I hope your Christmas' were bright and your New Years will be full of festivities. Here in Houston we had a Wednesday celebration as the Texas Houston Mission. All the Missionaries in our mission gathered for a large service project. We gathered food for N.A.M., hung up donated clothes at N.A.M., and cleaned the highways. Following which we had activities such as gingerbread house decorating, Ultimate Frisbee, Rope Pulls, Stickpull, and Cowchip throwing. The Cowchip throwing was very interesting because we were using frozen meat pies that were frozen in the beginning but near the end... Let's just say that there were some disgusting smears on peoples hands and shirts. Then we had a wonderful Christmas devotional full of missionaries singing and talks given by the Area President (I think that is what he is called. The guy over all the Stake Presidents.) and his wife. This took up our whole day Wednesday. Then on Christmas Eve we just had District Meeting and went out for lunch afterwards as always. Oddly enough unlike Thanksgiving where we had four dinners we had zero for both Christmas and Christmas Eve. So instead we did our weekly planning on Christmas Eve. We got a call around 6 p.m. from one of the recently returned sister missionaries in the ward. She invited us to a party at her inactive Dad's house.
In the Hispanic culture they usually have a late devotional on Christmas Eve, they eat lots of food, open all of their presents at midnight, and then dance the night away. We were going to do the little devotional. It was a trial to get there. Our car needed gas so we stopped to get gas. It was pouring outside. Then our car told us it that a tire needed to be pumped up. So in the rain we are trying to pump up our tire. I nice gentleman stopped to help us. We gave him a card of course. Then we get back into the car and the car still says that our tire needs air. We think our car is having a little bit of a problem electrically. Our vehicle coordinator told us that our car has been recalled for that reason and we needed to take it to a Chevy dealership. Anyway, we get on our way and get to the house. Only to find that they pushed back the party to 9 p.m. So we couldn't teach a lesson. But they had some food ready for us. So we ate while they finished getting ready for their night and then we left. Christmas day we had a normal morning except we opened up all our presents. Then we went to the Mission Home for crepes that afternoon. We came home because we were not allowed to proselyte or go out unless we had appointments. We had none, not from lack of trying. But all the Hispanics were busy and or sleeping off the night before. So we came home, called our families, and just chilled. I ended up sleeping until the next morning.
I absolutely loved talking to my family. They are so wonderful. As I like to say my family may not be perfect, but they are perfect for me. I pray for all of you and wish you the best this Holiday Season.
Hermana Alaina Mills
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year one and all!!! I hope your Christmas' were bright and your New Years will be full of festivities. Here in Houston we had a Wednesday celebration as the Texas Houston Mission. All the Missionaries in our mission gathered for a large service project. We gathered food for N.A.M., hung up donated clothes at N.A.M., and cleaned the highways. Following which we had activities such as gingerbread house decorating, Ultimate Frisbee, Rope Pulls, Stickpull, and Cowchip throwing. The Cowchip throwing was very interesting because we were using frozen meat pies that were frozen in the beginning but near the end... Let's just say that there were some disgusting smears on peoples hands and shirts. Then we had a wonderful Christmas devotional full of missionaries singing and talks given by the Area President (I think that is what he is called. The guy over all the Stake Presidents.) and his wife. This took up our whole day Wednesday. Then on Christmas Eve we just had District Meeting and went out for lunch afterwards as always. Oddly enough unlike Thanksgiving where we had four dinners we had zero for both Christmas and Christmas Eve. So instead we did our weekly planning on Christmas Eve. We got a call around 6 p.m. from one of the recently returned sister missionaries in the ward. She invited us to a party at her inactive Dad's house.
In the Hispanic culture they usually have a late devotional on Christmas Eve, they eat lots of food, open all of their presents at midnight, and then dance the night away. We were going to do the little devotional. It was a trial to get there. Our car needed gas so we stopped to get gas. It was pouring outside. Then our car told us it that a tire needed to be pumped up. So in the rain we are trying to pump up our tire. I nice gentleman stopped to help us. We gave him a card of course. Then we get back into the car and the car still says that our tire needs air. We think our car is having a little bit of a problem electrically. Our vehicle coordinator told us that our car has been recalled for that reason and we needed to take it to a Chevy dealership. Anyway, we get on our way and get to the house. Only to find that they pushed back the party to 9 p.m. So we couldn't teach a lesson. But they had some food ready for us. So we ate while they finished getting ready for their night and then we left. Christmas day we had a normal morning except we opened up all our presents. Then we went to the Mission Home for crepes that afternoon. We came home because we were not allowed to proselyte or go out unless we had appointments. We had none, not from lack of trying. But all the Hispanics were busy and or sleeping off the night before. So we came home, called our families, and just chilled. I ended up sleeping until the next morning.
I absolutely loved talking to my family. They are so wonderful. As I like to say my family may not be perfect, but they are perfect for me. I pray for all of you and wish you the best this Holiday Season.
Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, December 20th, 2010 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas on and all!!!! I hope everyone has happy plans for Christmas. If you don't go find some. There is so much to do. Everyone keeps telling me that what a great opportunity I have to focus on the Savior so much this Christmas season. I don't know what they are talking about. I have always focused on the Savior at this time of year. And I actually miss the opportunity to get presents for those that I love, including the Savior. I had a tradition of giving a gift to the Savior every Christmas. But this year I am struggling to come up with one. Everything I do every moment of every day is for the Savior so I don't know.
As for the work this week. Ana was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this last Sunday. The bishop confirmed her and all the single adult males that she grew up with who had the priesthood were in the circle. It was such a cool experience. She said she felt the spirit so strong. Stronger then when she was baptized. This actually makes sense because I baptism is not complete without the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have a new family we are teaching. I think I may have told you about them in my last letter, but just in case. They have a little 3 year old boy and a 2 month old girl. They live in this trailer that has no heat. Brrr... a little cold. They use a space heater. They are doing pretty well at progressing. They have so much interest in the gospel. The mom especially loves what we teach her.
Other than that it has been a pretty normal week. The only difference is everyone basically wants to put the lessons they are taking on hold until after the holidays. You would think people would be more willing to listen to our message during the holidays. Nope that is a lie. People are less willing to listen. Also, unlike Thanksgiving where everyone wanted us to come over and eat. Christmas we haven't received a single invitation. Christmas is special and everyone just wants to focus on family. I can't blame them. But we have some special activities this week in the mission to make up for the lack of lessons. I think the mission planned these activities for this week just for this reason. But I will tell you all about the activities next week.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
P.S. I just want to thank everyone who has sent me their Christmas cards or a package for Christmas. You have no idea how those little things have been lifting my spirits. So thank-you. May God be with you this Christmas season.
Merry Christmas on and all!!!! I hope everyone has happy plans for Christmas. If you don't go find some. There is so much to do. Everyone keeps telling me that what a great opportunity I have to focus on the Savior so much this Christmas season. I don't know what they are talking about. I have always focused on the Savior at this time of year. And I actually miss the opportunity to get presents for those that I love, including the Savior. I had a tradition of giving a gift to the Savior every Christmas. But this year I am struggling to come up with one. Everything I do every moment of every day is for the Savior so I don't know.
As for the work this week. Ana was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this last Sunday. The bishop confirmed her and all the single adult males that she grew up with who had the priesthood were in the circle. It was such a cool experience. She said she felt the spirit so strong. Stronger then when she was baptized. This actually makes sense because I baptism is not complete without the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have a new family we are teaching. I think I may have told you about them in my last letter, but just in case. They have a little 3 year old boy and a 2 month old girl. They live in this trailer that has no heat. Brrr... a little cold. They use a space heater. They are doing pretty well at progressing. They have so much interest in the gospel. The mom especially loves what we teach her.
Other than that it has been a pretty normal week. The only difference is everyone basically wants to put the lessons they are taking on hold until after the holidays. You would think people would be more willing to listen to our message during the holidays. Nope that is a lie. People are less willing to listen. Also, unlike Thanksgiving where everyone wanted us to come over and eat. Christmas we haven't received a single invitation. Christmas is special and everyone just wants to focus on family. I can't blame them. But we have some special activities this week in the mission to make up for the lack of lessons. I think the mission planned these activities for this week just for this reason. But I will tell you all about the activities next week.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
P.S. I just want to thank everyone who has sent me their Christmas cards or a package for Christmas. You have no idea how those little things have been lifting my spirits. So thank-you. May God be with you this Christmas season.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 13th Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Wonderful and Crazy news from Texas!!! We had a baptism on Sunday for one of our investigators. Her name is Anna. She has kind of been involved in the church since she was young. Her friend would invite her to young women actives and she would go each week. When her friend whose name is Claudia went on a mission Anna came to the farewell. Then Claudia wrote a thank-you note to Anna for being her friend while she was on a mission. This was a big help to Anna at the time. So Claudia got home from her mission in July. Anna and Claudia have been hanging out and going to single's activities. Most of Anna's friends are members. Claudia decided she should invite Anna to come to church sometime. Well, she came and after had a lot of questions. Claudia has been very careful not to just dump on her everything there is to know. She just gives her enough info. Perk of being a missionary. She waited for Anna to ask to learn more. So the beginning of this transfer we got the call that Anna wanted to take the missionary lessons. The first lesson was Wednesday last week. She has been coming to church for the past 2 months. We have been having lessons like every night. Anna loves the lessons. She is just so "hungry" for the gospel. Her baptism was this Sunday. Only a week and a half since we got the first call. Its is such a testimony builder to me that people are ready. We just need to be patient and wait for their heart to be ready.
We have also found a new family to teach. They have such potential. They have 2 little little kids. One must be 2 because he is a "terrible two" if I ever say one. The little girl is only 2 months. The mom loves our message. We are so excited to be teaching a family. We still have lots of other investigators. We have a man whose older son and wife are members. We are working with this man and his nine year old younger son. His nine year old is ready for baptism. But the Dad wants to find out for himself if the church is true. I think the thing that interest him the most is the being married forever and being sealed to his family. He and his wife have such a good relationship. But Satan is working hard and giving this man some big problems in his life that he has to deal with to distract him from finding out. We pray for him. We are working hard here in Houston. It doesn't even feel like Christmas without the snow. And we are still having days in the 70's. I think my mission is going to turn into feeling like just a long summer. I like all the Christmas lights. Because I am in a richer area more people have lights and Christmas trees. I am glad because this has always been one of my favorite things about the holidays.
I just want to thank everyone who has sent me Christmas cards. I love looking at the pictures and reading how everyone is in their family. So thank-you to those of you who have sent me your Christmas card. I hope everyone stays safe and happy this holiday season.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Wonderful and Crazy news from Texas!!! We had a baptism on Sunday for one of our investigators. Her name is Anna. She has kind of been involved in the church since she was young. Her friend would invite her to young women actives and she would go each week. When her friend whose name is Claudia went on a mission Anna came to the farewell. Then Claudia wrote a thank-you note to Anna for being her friend while she was on a mission. This was a big help to Anna at the time. So Claudia got home from her mission in July. Anna and Claudia have been hanging out and going to single's activities. Most of Anna's friends are members. Claudia decided she should invite Anna to come to church sometime. Well, she came and after had a lot of questions. Claudia has been very careful not to just dump on her everything there is to know. She just gives her enough info. Perk of being a missionary. She waited for Anna to ask to learn more. So the beginning of this transfer we got the call that Anna wanted to take the missionary lessons. The first lesson was Wednesday last week. She has been coming to church for the past 2 months. We have been having lessons like every night. Anna loves the lessons. She is just so "hungry" for the gospel. Her baptism was this Sunday. Only a week and a half since we got the first call. Its is such a testimony builder to me that people are ready. We just need to be patient and wait for their heart to be ready.
We have also found a new family to teach. They have such potential. They have 2 little little kids. One must be 2 because he is a "terrible two" if I ever say one. The little girl is only 2 months. The mom loves our message. We are so excited to be teaching a family. We still have lots of other investigators. We have a man whose older son and wife are members. We are working with this man and his nine year old younger son. His nine year old is ready for baptism. But the Dad wants to find out for himself if the church is true. I think the thing that interest him the most is the being married forever and being sealed to his family. He and his wife have such a good relationship. But Satan is working hard and giving this man some big problems in his life that he has to deal with to distract him from finding out. We pray for him. We are working hard here in Houston. It doesn't even feel like Christmas without the snow. And we are still having days in the 70's. I think my mission is going to turn into feeling like just a long summer. I like all the Christmas lights. Because I am in a richer area more people have lights and Christmas trees. I am glad because this has always been one of my favorite things about the holidays.
I just want to thank everyone who has sent me Christmas cards. I love looking at the pictures and reading how everyone is in their family. So thank-you to those of you who have sent me your Christmas card. I hope everyone stays safe and happy this holiday season.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, December 6th, 2010 LETTER
Dear Family and Friends,
Can you believe that it is December?! I know I can't, especially with this weather we have here. This week we have had an average of 50s to 70s degree weather. It feels like Fall. If you know me well you know how I love Autumn. So winters in Texas are easy. Everyone is saying how cold it is. Everyone has there coats, gloves, and scarfs on. I on the other hand am wearing the same thing I did in the summer. The only difference is on occasion I will put on my hoodie at night and my rain jacket. My rain jacket is really just like a rain poncho. Everyone thinks I am crazy. Then I tell them where I am from and they just nod and say "Oh that is why." So this has been the first week in this new transfer with my new companion. This transfer will include Christmas and New Years. First, about "killing" off my old companion. We woke up tuesday morning as usual and Hermana Hastings all of a sudden got really nervous to go home. She kept saying she didn't know what she was going to do with herself when she got home. It is like she was so happy to go home all transfer and at the very end she realized what that meant. But I took her to the office with all the craziness of transfers. Lots of people at the office changing companions and with luggage(sp.?). I got my new companion and we head out. Pretty much the first night we dropped off her stuff and went to work. Now that I am the only one who knows the area I realize how much I do know. I am also the designated driver which means that I drive everyday again like I did my first 2 transfers.
So about my new companion. Her name is Jenny Bullock. She is the youngest of 4 children. She has 2 sisters and 1 brother. She is very happy all the time. I have never met someone who is happy all the time. It is exhausting just to watch. She is the same "age" in the mission as my trainer was. So this is her 9th transfer which means she has been on her mission now for over a year. She only has three more transfers after this one with me. She will be going home in May. Hermana Bullock loves being a missionary. She has still kept that "greenie fire" as they call it. She is not afraid to commit everyone she meets to baptism. We will do a lot of good here in this area with her here. She struggles with her spanish though. So actually I am using my spanish a lot more than before. Everyone tells me I have really good spanish for someone who has been out as long as I have. By the way I have now been on my mission for 6 months!! It is harder to see improvement in yourself when you talk with natives. But I don't give up and keep going.
We have some exciting news. We received a referral from the ward the tuesday that we changed companions. Her name is Anna. She is a friend of many many people in the ward. She grew up coming to activities, but never church. So when her friend came home from her mission, (Her friend is a recently returned missionary in our ward named Claudia), she invited her to church. Anna had just broken up with a long time boyfriend and was completely prepared to make this change in her life. We have been teaching her a lot this whole week. She plans on being baptized on the 18th of December. The ward has been great with helping fellowship her. Also our new ward mission leader is very enthusiastic about the work. We expect some good changes to happen in the ward to help the work go more effectively forward.
I keep working hard. I miss and love all of you. I hope all of you are safe and happy this Christmas season.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Can you believe that it is December?! I know I can't, especially with this weather we have here. This week we have had an average of 50s to 70s degree weather. It feels like Fall. If you know me well you know how I love Autumn. So winters in Texas are easy. Everyone is saying how cold it is. Everyone has there coats, gloves, and scarfs on. I on the other hand am wearing the same thing I did in the summer. The only difference is on occasion I will put on my hoodie at night and my rain jacket. My rain jacket is really just like a rain poncho. Everyone thinks I am crazy. Then I tell them where I am from and they just nod and say "Oh that is why." So this has been the first week in this new transfer with my new companion. This transfer will include Christmas and New Years. First, about "killing" off my old companion. We woke up tuesday morning as usual and Hermana Hastings all of a sudden got really nervous to go home. She kept saying she didn't know what she was going to do with herself when she got home. It is like she was so happy to go home all transfer and at the very end she realized what that meant. But I took her to the office with all the craziness of transfers. Lots of people at the office changing companions and with luggage(sp.?). I got my new companion and we head out. Pretty much the first night we dropped off her stuff and went to work. Now that I am the only one who knows the area I realize how much I do know. I am also the designated driver which means that I drive everyday again like I did my first 2 transfers.
So about my new companion. Her name is Jenny Bullock. She is the youngest of 4 children. She has 2 sisters and 1 brother. She is very happy all the time. I have never met someone who is happy all the time. It is exhausting just to watch. She is the same "age" in the mission as my trainer was. So this is her 9th transfer which means she has been on her mission now for over a year. She only has three more transfers after this one with me. She will be going home in May. Hermana Bullock loves being a missionary. She has still kept that "greenie fire" as they call it. She is not afraid to commit everyone she meets to baptism. We will do a lot of good here in this area with her here. She struggles with her spanish though. So actually I am using my spanish a lot more than before. Everyone tells me I have really good spanish for someone who has been out as long as I have. By the way I have now been on my mission for 6 months!! It is harder to see improvement in yourself when you talk with natives. But I don't give up and keep going.
We have some exciting news. We received a referral from the ward the tuesday that we changed companions. Her name is Anna. She is a friend of many many people in the ward. She grew up coming to activities, but never church. So when her friend came home from her mission, (Her friend is a recently returned missionary in our ward named Claudia), she invited her to church. Anna had just broken up with a long time boyfriend and was completely prepared to make this change in her life. We have been teaching her a lot this whole week. She plans on being baptized on the 18th of December. The ward has been great with helping fellowship her. Also our new ward mission leader is very enthusiastic about the work. We expect some good changes to happen in the ward to help the work go more effectively forward.
I keep working hard. I miss and love all of you. I hope all of you are safe and happy this Christmas season.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, November 22nd, 2010 LETTER
NOTE: This letter just came through today. To see Alaina's most recent letter scroll down to the next entry. Thank you for supporting our wonderful Hermana Mills!
Dear Family and Friends,
It cannot seriously be time for Christmas decorations. There is no snow. There is still green grass and leaves on the trees. This different climate is messing with my sense of time. This next week begins the last week in the transfer. The last week in the mission for my companion. So next transfer I am pretty sure I will be here again. I will be the only one in the mission who knows about the area what with my companion going home. So I am pretty sure I will be getting a new companion. Ha ha ha. Sorry being on the mission makes you a little strange. Starved for entertainment and all. But you are so happy at the same time. The spirit is so strong with this work.
This week we worked a lot with children and youth. We have several 8 year olds and 9 year olds that we are teaching. We have other investigators as well, but this week we just seemed to focus alot on the children. We also found 2 new investigators through a youth we are working with. The youth is a very less-active who doesn't remember anything. Not even who Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are. So we had a lesson with her and her friends were there. They loved the lesson. At first they were pretty aprenhensive as youth are. But the spirit was there and they opened up. The youth came to mutual night and had a great time. She knows some of the members from school. We have great hopes for her and her friends.
We had Zone Conference this week as well. Zone conference was great!! We use to have them every transfer, but now only every quarter. So we won't have another until March. (I got a candy-bar for my birthday. Birthday is not until February.) I got to see one of my companions from the MTC. I think I was an answer to her pray. She has a very amazing companion. And I think my old companion was comparing herself to her companion. This is always bad. Never compare yourself to anyone. Each one of us is special and unique. We all have our talents and our own ways of doing things. Being different doesn't make you a bad person. We don't need to try to fit some kind of cookie-cutter person. We are just asked to do our own personal best in being like the Savior and following his commandments. I also received an answer to a question I had. I didn't even ask the question and President followed the spirit and answered my question. He was giving his remarks and decided on the spot to say something he felt impressed to say. This was my answer. I am so grateful to a President who follows the spirit and is a great example to me. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves and knows me so well. I am grateful for all the friends and family I have been blessed with.
Let us all show more love to one another.
Hermana Alaina Mills
Dear Family and Friends,
It cannot seriously be time for Christmas decorations. There is no snow. There is still green grass and leaves on the trees. This different climate is messing with my sense of time. This next week begins the last week in the transfer. The last week in the mission for my companion. So next transfer I am pretty sure I will be here again. I will be the only one in the mission who knows about the area what with my companion going home. So I am pretty sure I will be getting a new companion. Ha ha ha. Sorry being on the mission makes you a little strange. Starved for entertainment and all. But you are so happy at the same time. The spirit is so strong with this work.
This week we worked a lot with children and youth. We have several 8 year olds and 9 year olds that we are teaching. We have other investigators as well, but this week we just seemed to focus alot on the children. We also found 2 new investigators through a youth we are working with. The youth is a very less-active who doesn't remember anything. Not even who Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are. So we had a lesson with her and her friends were there. They loved the lesson. At first they were pretty aprenhensive as youth are. But the spirit was there and they opened up. The youth came to mutual night and had a great time. She knows some of the members from school. We have great hopes for her and her friends.
We had Zone Conference this week as well. Zone conference was great!! We use to have them every transfer, but now only every quarter. So we won't have another until March. (I got a candy-bar for my birthday. Birthday is not until February.) I got to see one of my companions from the MTC. I think I was an answer to her pray. She has a very amazing companion. And I think my old companion was comparing herself to her companion. This is always bad. Never compare yourself to anyone. Each one of us is special and unique. We all have our talents and our own ways of doing things. Being different doesn't make you a bad person. We don't need to try to fit some kind of cookie-cutter person. We are just asked to do our own personal best in being like the Savior and following his commandments. I also received an answer to a question I had. I didn't even ask the question and President followed the spirit and answered my question. He was giving his remarks and decided on the spot to say something he felt impressed to say. This was my answer. I am so grateful to a President who follows the spirit and is a great example to me. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves and knows me so well. I am grateful for all the friends and family I have been blessed with.
Let us all show more love to one another.
Hermana Alaina Mills
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Monday, November 29th, 2010 LETTER
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! So I was invited to 4 dinners for Thanksgiving. We ended up eating with 3 on the day of Thanksgiving and the last the following evening. We first ate a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a very very less active family. It was great. There was turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, and apple pie. The non-traditional items included; stuffing (but mexican stuffing) with peppers and stuff, green beans, and rice. This family loved having us over. We teach the mom and the oldest daughter. The Dad is not a member, but has no time for us. But he likes us a lot. He is very friendly. Then we went to a dinner with a family in the ward. It was traditional food but not prepared in a traditional way. We had turkey with some tomatoe something or other marinated on top, rice with corn etc, french bread, yams(which were actually traditional), and a mexican salad. It was a salad but everything was chopped weird and it had things like celery in it. Then we went to the last dinner with the second counselor in the bishopric. Here we had lobster, shrimp, potatoe salad, and green beans. It was all good, but I felt so heavy and sick after eating so much food. I am just now feeling like my body is starting to recover. SICK!!! I needed a turkey coma (nap), but as a missionary you don't get a nap.
Also this Sunday was Hermana Hastings last Sunday in the mission. We had a baptism for one of the 8 year old boys we have been teaching. He isn't a convert baptism, but his parents wanted us to teach him like he was. So we did. He is such a smart little boy. We had a little hiccup when the jumper for Sammy (this is the little boys name) was missing. We had to scramble to another building to find one. We think what happened was there was a baptism the day before. We think they must have took the suit home to wash and dry it and didn't bring it back yet. So we called the elders up in Conroe who live a good 20 minutes away. They said they would take care of it for us. They had to call the English areas who had keys to the building up there. When they got to the building they discovered the jumper was missing as well. After lots of investigating we discovered that the primary president of an English ward had taken it home to was and dry it for her daughters baptism this coming Saturday. She had washed the suit but had not dried it. So we drove up to Conroe to meet the Elders, who then had us follow the English member to her house. We grabbed the jumper and we were booking it back to the church building. The jumper was soaked. So first we tried holding it out the window to dry. This didn't work too much humidity. So we turned on the heater full blast and used it to dry the jumper. Thanks to Heavenly Father it dried quickly. We were laughing so much. It was either laugh or cry from the stress. We choose to laugh.
So I am staying in my area again. So same address. My new companions name is Hermana Bullock. I will tell you more about her the next week. I hope everyone's Thanksgivings were great!! I love you all!! This work is so true. I love the Gospel!!!
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! So I was invited to 4 dinners for Thanksgiving. We ended up eating with 3 on the day of Thanksgiving and the last the following evening. We first ate a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a very very less active family. It was great. There was turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, and apple pie. The non-traditional items included; stuffing (but mexican stuffing) with peppers and stuff, green beans, and rice. This family loved having us over. We teach the mom and the oldest daughter. The Dad is not a member, but has no time for us. But he likes us a lot. He is very friendly. Then we went to a dinner with a family in the ward. It was traditional food but not prepared in a traditional way. We had turkey with some tomatoe something or other marinated on top, rice with corn etc, french bread, yams(which were actually traditional), and a mexican salad. It was a salad but everything was chopped weird and it had things like celery in it. Then we went to the last dinner with the second counselor in the bishopric. Here we had lobster, shrimp, potatoe salad, and green beans. It was all good, but I felt so heavy and sick after eating so much food. I am just now feeling like my body is starting to recover. SICK!!! I needed a turkey coma (nap), but as a missionary you don't get a nap.
Also this Sunday was Hermana Hastings last Sunday in the mission. We had a baptism for one of the 8 year old boys we have been teaching. He isn't a convert baptism, but his parents wanted us to teach him like he was. So we did. He is such a smart little boy. We had a little hiccup when the jumper for Sammy (this is the little boys name) was missing. We had to scramble to another building to find one. We think what happened was there was a baptism the day before. We think they must have took the suit home to wash and dry it and didn't bring it back yet. So we called the elders up in Conroe who live a good 20 minutes away. They said they would take care of it for us. They had to call the English areas who had keys to the building up there. When they got to the building they discovered the jumper was missing as well. After lots of investigating we discovered that the primary president of an English ward had taken it home to was and dry it for her daughters baptism this coming Saturday. She had washed the suit but had not dried it. So we drove up to Conroe to meet the Elders, who then had us follow the English member to her house. We grabbed the jumper and we were booking it back to the church building. The jumper was soaked. So first we tried holding it out the window to dry. This didn't work too much humidity. So we turned on the heater full blast and used it to dry the jumper. Thanks to Heavenly Father it dried quickly. We were laughing so much. It was either laugh or cry from the stress. We choose to laugh.
So I am staying in my area again. So same address. My new companions name is Hermana Bullock. I will tell you more about her the next week. I hope everyone's Thanksgivings were great!! I love you all!! This work is so true. I love the Gospel!!!
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15th Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello from the mission field. Can you believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!?! What happened to the time? So this week began with Exchanges. I went to a different area and worked with two companions, Hermana Bullock and Hermana Christensen. The reason I worked with two people is because we exchanged with a tri-companionship. Hermana Ferro their other companion went to work with Hermana Hastings(my companion) in the Woodlands. It is always an interesting experience exchanges. You either learn a lot about how to do missionary work better or you learn to appreciate your area more. This exchange was more of a learn to appreciate my area more. The work is pretty much the same. You have appointments that fall through. You have appointments that are great and the spirit is very strong. You talk to people on the street who are super nice and very interested. Then you talked to people on the street who just laugh at you and go on their way. Just proves to me that the Lord is preparing people we as missionaries are just trying to find them. The other Hermanas told me that I have a real talent for helping people to learn to love and trust me quickly. I don't know what I do, but their members that we visited are hoping I get sent to their area. It is weird teaching with three companions. One of the companions just has so much energy. She is exhausting to watch. She has been in a lot of tri-panionships on her mission. She attributes this to her energy. That she needs 2 companions to handle her. The other companion is very sweet and very quiet. The one with energy struggles with spanish whereas the quiet one does not.
So this week we had some success in activating a family that was very inactive. Their father has the Melchizedek (spelling?) priesthood and knows a lot. His 9 year old daughter is who we are teaching and preparing for baptism. She is so cute. She loves the Book of Mormon. She came to church this last Sunday. The first time in a long time. The Mom is the difficult one. She likes to shop and her favorite day to shop is on Saturday. I think the Dad would be all up for coming to church if he had the support of his wife more. His kids are all for going. It just depends on Mom. One of our investigators decided to drop us in the middle of this week, but he came to church on Sunday. He changed his mind and decided he wanted to continue. It was weird. I was like so sad for him one moment. And the next he is at church apologizing. We also inherited an investigator from the Elders. She was suppose to be our investigator all along. She lives in our area. We didn't find this out until they split the ward. She is still in our ward which means she was actually suppose to be taught by us. She is super smart and likes us a lot from seeing us in Relief Society and Gospel Principles. Yes, I am out of the primary now that my companion and I don't really play the piano.
We started English classes this week as well. We have a professional teacher. She is a member in our ward who actualLY has a Master's in bilingual education. She will be in charge of teaching the lessons. We like this idea so much better because the missionaries change so it is hard to get the consistency you need if the missionaries are teaching. This way any missionaries in this area can help with the English classes. It is a good way to find new investigators. Because ward members feel much more comfortable inviting friends to free English classes instead of hearing from the missionaries. And as those people learn to trust us they will be interested in what it is that we actual do believe. It is a great thing that we are very excited about. Our member is also very excited about it. Many of the ward members as well want to learn English so it is a service to the ward as well.
I love you all and miss you all!! Find some joy in what you are doing everyday. I promise that you can find the joy, you just need to stop focusing on the hard/difficult. If you focus on what is good you can face the bad with such a better attitude and a resolve to overcome it.
-Hermana Alaina Mills
Hello from the mission field. Can you believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!?! What happened to the time? So this week began with Exchanges. I went to a different area and worked with two companions, Hermana Bullock and Hermana Christensen. The reason I worked with two people is because we exchanged with a tri-companionship. Hermana Ferro their other companion went to work with Hermana Hastings(my companion) in the Woodlands. It is always an interesting experience exchanges. You either learn a lot about how to do missionary work better or you learn to appreciate your area more. This exchange was more of a learn to appreciate my area more. The work is pretty much the same. You have appointments that fall through. You have appointments that are great and the spirit is very strong. You talk to people on the street who are super nice and very interested. Then you talked to people on the street who just laugh at you and go on their way. Just proves to me that the Lord is preparing people we as missionaries are just trying to find them. The other Hermanas told me that I have a real talent for helping people to learn to love and trust me quickly. I don't know what I do, but their members that we visited are hoping I get sent to their area. It is weird teaching with three companions. One of the companions just has so much energy. She is exhausting to watch. She has been in a lot of tri-panionships on her mission. She attributes this to her energy. That she needs 2 companions to handle her. The other companion is very sweet and very quiet. The one with energy struggles with spanish whereas the quiet one does not.
So this week we had some success in activating a family that was very inactive. Their father has the Melchizedek (spelling?) priesthood and knows a lot. His 9 year old daughter is who we are teaching and preparing for baptism. She is so cute. She loves the Book of Mormon. She came to church this last Sunday. The first time in a long time. The Mom is the difficult one. She likes to shop and her favorite day to shop is on Saturday. I think the Dad would be all up for coming to church if he had the support of his wife more. His kids are all for going. It just depends on Mom. One of our investigators decided to drop us in the middle of this week, but he came to church on Sunday. He changed his mind and decided he wanted to continue. It was weird. I was like so sad for him one moment. And the next he is at church apologizing. We also inherited an investigator from the Elders. She was suppose to be our investigator all along. She lives in our area. We didn't find this out until they split the ward. She is still in our ward which means she was actually suppose to be taught by us. She is super smart and likes us a lot from seeing us in Relief Society and Gospel Principles. Yes, I am out of the primary now that my companion and I don't really play the piano.
We started English classes this week as well. We have a professional teacher. She is a member in our ward who actualLY has a Master's in bilingual education. She will be in charge of teaching the lessons. We like this idea so much better because the missionaries change so it is hard to get the consistency you need if the missionaries are teaching. This way any missionaries in this area can help with the English classes. It is a good way to find new investigators. Because ward members feel much more comfortable inviting friends to free English classes instead of hearing from the missionaries. And as those people learn to trust us they will be interested in what it is that we actual do believe. It is a great thing that we are very excited about. Our member is also very excited about it. Many of the ward members as well want to learn English so it is a service to the ward as well.
I love you all and miss you all!! Find some joy in what you are doing everyday. I promise that you can find the joy, you just need to stop focusing on the hard/difficult. If you focus on what is good you can face the bad with such a better attitude and a resolve to overcome it.
-Hermana Alaina Mills
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 8th, 2010 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
So this week has been very good. Very busy with new investigators and old investigators. We reached our goal for lessons this week. We had an intense lesson with an investigator who was not progressing. The spirit was very strong in her lesson. We were testifying left and right. She said she did have a desire to find out if what we have been talking about with her is true, but a very small desire. We committed her to act on that small desire and promised her that it would grow if she would take the first step to read the chapter we gave her and pray about it. It is kind of sad in a way. We are giving her an opportunity to have something vital in her life. And she knows that. But she just won't act on it. She likes where she is. She doesn't have religion in her life at all. She did as a little girl and knows her children need it. But she just won't do anything about what she knows. It is sad to see someone so close to having something so awesome and still not take it.
So our ward was split this Sunday. They made a branch out of part of our ward. The area that is now a branch is full of less active members. All of these members have kept saying they will come back to church when church is closer to them. So now it is closer to them. We will see what happens. There are two sets of Elders that cover the new Branch area. Our ward now only has a two Sisters as the missionaries. Most of the members in our area are active. We do have some less actives we work with on a regular basis though. And we have some really good potential members. We are going to work with the new bishop I think a lot. When he spoke in sacrament meeting he said he had three goals. Baptizing, Retaining, and Reactivating were the goals. And that is what we as the missionaries of this ward have been working on. The new bishops name is Obispo Baich. He is from Argentina. He will be a great bishop. We also know the counselors really well. It will be sad not to see the Elders anymore. They are not even in our district. We are these two lone spanish sisters in the midst of all these english elders. But the Elders we have are great. It just scares us a bit to be the only missionaries covering the ward. But English Elders do it all the time. And our ward mission leader is back from his out of town job. YEAH! He will still be in our ward as well.
I pray everyone is safe and happy. I love you all. I pray for you daily. More than once a day. Until we meet again.
Hermana Alaina Mills
So this week has been very good. Very busy with new investigators and old investigators. We reached our goal for lessons this week. We had an intense lesson with an investigator who was not progressing. The spirit was very strong in her lesson. We were testifying left and right. She said she did have a desire to find out if what we have been talking about with her is true, but a very small desire. We committed her to act on that small desire and promised her that it would grow if she would take the first step to read the chapter we gave her and pray about it. It is kind of sad in a way. We are giving her an opportunity to have something vital in her life. And she knows that. But she just won't act on it. She likes where she is. She doesn't have religion in her life at all. She did as a little girl and knows her children need it. But she just won't do anything about what she knows. It is sad to see someone so close to having something so awesome and still not take it.
So our ward was split this Sunday. They made a branch out of part of our ward. The area that is now a branch is full of less active members. All of these members have kept saying they will come back to church when church is closer to them. So now it is closer to them. We will see what happens. There are two sets of Elders that cover the new Branch area. Our ward now only has a two Sisters as the missionaries. Most of the members in our area are active. We do have some less actives we work with on a regular basis though. And we have some really good potential members. We are going to work with the new bishop I think a lot. When he spoke in sacrament meeting he said he had three goals. Baptizing, Retaining, and Reactivating were the goals. And that is what we as the missionaries of this ward have been working on. The new bishops name is Obispo Baich. He is from Argentina. He will be a great bishop. We also know the counselors really well. It will be sad not to see the Elders anymore. They are not even in our district. We are these two lone spanish sisters in the midst of all these english elders. But the Elders we have are great. It just scares us a bit to be the only missionaries covering the ward. But English Elders do it all the time. And our ward mission leader is back from his out of town job. YEAH! He will still be in our ward as well.
I pray everyone is safe and happy. I love you all. I pray for you daily. More than once a day. Until we meet again.
Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, November 8, 2010
Monday, November 1st Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
So I don't have lots of time because I am writing at the office and there is a line of Elders and Sisters who need to write their family. Well, my poor companion got sick at the begining of the week. So I was inside for two days. I was going crazy. I couldn't clean because unlike Elder's apartments our apartment is very clean. But she got better and we went out and worked. We started knocking this new trailer park we didn't know about until recently. So we were knocking and of course another miracle happened. We ran into this woman who let us come inside. She told us about her life. She grew up in Mexico until her Dad basically just picked her up and drove her here to live. She was a trouble maker supposedly. She ended up marrying her American husband who she met while she was working as a waitress. Neither of them spoke the others language but they still got married. She now speaks English really well. She has two little girls. We have an appointment with them tomorrow. We had some specialized training this week about being obedient and seeing the results of our obedience. The spirit was so strong and amazing. We are working hard here in the field. I pray all of you are safe and living the gospel. This is really how we find safety and happiness.
Love,
Hermana Mills
So I don't have lots of time because I am writing at the office and there is a line of Elders and Sisters who need to write their family. Well, my poor companion got sick at the begining of the week. So I was inside for two days. I was going crazy. I couldn't clean because unlike Elder's apartments our apartment is very clean. But she got better and we went out and worked. We started knocking this new trailer park we didn't know about until recently. So we were knocking and of course another miracle happened. We ran into this woman who let us come inside. She told us about her life. She grew up in Mexico until her Dad basically just picked her up and drove her here to live. She was a trouble maker supposedly. She ended up marrying her American husband who she met while she was working as a waitress. Neither of them spoke the others language but they still got married. She now speaks English really well. She has two little girls. We have an appointment with them tomorrow. We had some specialized training this week about being obedient and seeing the results of our obedience. The spirit was so strong and amazing. We are working hard here in the field. I pray all of you are safe and living the gospel. This is really how we find safety and happiness.
Love,
Hermana Mills
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25th, 2010 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Hello Everyone!!! So Alba was baptized and confirmed this week!!! She was crying before she was baptized. The spirit was really strong. She was baptized by the Second Counselor in the Bishopric. Then she was confirmed on Sunday by the First Counselor in the Bishopric. She is officially a member. It is weird to plan her lessons and think of her as a recent convert instead of an investigator. She and I chatted while we were eating the refreshments after the baptism. I think she really likes me and feels a closeness to me. It makes sense since I have been there for all her lessons. President Cue who did Alba's interview was there and said we did a good job organizing everything. I sang at the baptism in Spanish. Yeah for me!! Now Valerie (one of the youth in our ward) wants me to sing in sacrament with her for Christmas. She likes to sing Alto. We practiced a few hymns while we were cleaning up the baptism and we sound really good together so maybe. I am pretty sure I will be here for Christmas. Thanksgiving is in this transfer so I will be here for that. I heard during Christmas we eat a lot of Tamales (spelling?).
We have another investigator that we are working with who committed to be baptized. We will see how she goes. She recently had her first child. This usually means that she is more prepared to listen and accept the gospel having a life changing experience like having your first child. Hermana Hastings is a very good missionary. She is good at being bold and direct. She follows the spirit when it tells her to do something. She is more relaxed than my last companion and a lot more bold. I look forward to learning much from her. We joke around and laugh. And she is someone who takes charge. So she says we will not be having anymore boring P-days. Today, we are going to Old Town Spring with some other Sisters in the mission. It is just like a bunch of old fashion shops. It is where the main street in Spring use to be. I am still excited to go. We may also be getting to baptized our investigator who has been investigating for practically a year now. He has been out of town with his new job but is coming back we hope this next weekend. But you never know his job is crazy.
So a little about my companion. This is her last transfer. She served in this area for 8 months before. She trained my trainer here. So that means she is my "grandma" in mission lingo. She is from Las Vegas, NV. She is one of 6 children. She is the fifth child. There are four sisters and two brothers. So just like my family only switched on genders. In her family it goes; boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, girl. She went to BYU before her mission. She wants to be a Social Worker. She decided she is going to change schools and go to UVU when she gets home. She is very close with her sisters and her Dad. She is 22 yrs old and her birthday is in March. So we are basically the same age. She likes to watch movies and play sports with her family. She comes from a family of attorneys. Her Dad is a attorney. Her two brothers are attorneys. And one of her brother-in-laws is an attorney. I like her alot.
I pray everyone is safe and happy. I miss and love all of you. But I am grateful to be on a mission right now.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Hello Everyone!!! So Alba was baptized and confirmed this week!!! She was crying before she was baptized. The spirit was really strong. She was baptized by the Second Counselor in the Bishopric. Then she was confirmed on Sunday by the First Counselor in the Bishopric. She is officially a member. It is weird to plan her lessons and think of her as a recent convert instead of an investigator. She and I chatted while we were eating the refreshments after the baptism. I think she really likes me and feels a closeness to me. It makes sense since I have been there for all her lessons. President Cue who did Alba's interview was there and said we did a good job organizing everything. I sang at the baptism in Spanish. Yeah for me!! Now Valerie (one of the youth in our ward) wants me to sing in sacrament with her for Christmas. She likes to sing Alto. We practiced a few hymns while we were cleaning up the baptism and we sound really good together so maybe. I am pretty sure I will be here for Christmas. Thanksgiving is in this transfer so I will be here for that. I heard during Christmas we eat a lot of Tamales (spelling?).
We have another investigator that we are working with who committed to be baptized. We will see how she goes. She recently had her first child. This usually means that she is more prepared to listen and accept the gospel having a life changing experience like having your first child. Hermana Hastings is a very good missionary. She is good at being bold and direct. She follows the spirit when it tells her to do something. She is more relaxed than my last companion and a lot more bold. I look forward to learning much from her. We joke around and laugh. And she is someone who takes charge. So she says we will not be having anymore boring P-days. Today, we are going to Old Town Spring with some other Sisters in the mission. It is just like a bunch of old fashion shops. It is where the main street in Spring use to be. I am still excited to go. We may also be getting to baptized our investigator who has been investigating for practically a year now. He has been out of town with his new job but is coming back we hope this next weekend. But you never know his job is crazy.
So a little about my companion. This is her last transfer. She served in this area for 8 months before. She trained my trainer here. So that means she is my "grandma" in mission lingo. She is from Las Vegas, NV. She is one of 6 children. She is the fifth child. There are four sisters and two brothers. So just like my family only switched on genders. In her family it goes; boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, girl. She went to BYU before her mission. She wants to be a Social Worker. She decided she is going to change schools and go to UVU when she gets home. She is very close with her sisters and her Dad. She is 22 yrs old and her birthday is in March. So we are basically the same age. She likes to watch movies and play sports with her family. She comes from a family of attorneys. Her Dad is a attorney. Her two brothers are attorneys. And one of her brother-in-laws is an attorney. I like her alot.
I pray everyone is safe and happy. I miss and love all of you. But I am grateful to be on a mission right now.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18th, 2010 Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Hola from Texas!! So this week is a very exciting week. It begins the start of the new transfer. Transfer number 3 whohoo!!! Well, we have a baptism scheduled on the 23rd of Octuber for our investigator Alba. She has already passed her interview. We have pretty much everything organized. This has sure been a challenge I will have to tell you. Many phone calls and coordinating. Making handouts for the ward to invite everyone. The bishop had Alba stand up during Sacrament meeting so she could be recognized. She was just beaming from ear to ear. She is all set to go. She has had the whole anti-mormon junk thrown at her already and came back with a testimony. She reads and marks up her scriptures every night. We have it all worked out on who will be doing what for the baptism. I am very excited for Alba. She has become so special to me. I guess that is what happens when you spend so much time serving someone. You can't help but rejoice when they are doing well. So next week I will have lots of news about Alba's baptism. Alba is from Honduras.
As for transfers, if you haven't guessed already I will be staying in my area here in the Woodlands, now called Spring. But,.... My companion is changing. My old companion and trainer has finally been moved. She has been in this area for the past 7 transfers. She is headed off to Fairbanks which is in the Katy area of the mission. I have heard you do a lot of knocking in these areas. But I have heard Fairbanks does okay with the Spanish. My new companions name is Hermana Hastings. Funny enough Hermana Hastings trained my trainer Hermana Stephens in this same area. She knows this area really well. She was here for 5 transfers the last time she was here. This will be her last transfer in the mission. So in mission lingo I am killing off my grandma. We think she may have been sent back here to help us reactivate one of the families she baptized while she was here. They have slowly been coming to church less and less. And we have a hard time getting in contact with them. I am excited to learn from this very experienced missionary. It will be weird to not be driving everyday. Since my companion right now can't drive due to a health condition I drive everyday. How weird it will be to share the responsibility again.
I also now understand why they don't call you about transfers until like two days before transfers. When someone is moving it is really hard to focus on the missionary work. You have to think about saying goodbye to members. And what last minute things you want to do in the area. We are eating the amazing Blue Bell icecream tonight after planning. Blue Bell icecream is the best icecream I have ever tasted aside from homemade icecream. But it is also a lot more expensive. But as a tribute to my icecream eating companion we bought some. Hermana Stephens eats icecream any time she is stressed and needs a reminder of home. Icecream reminds her of her Dad. I haven't quite figured out what I do when I am a little homesick. I think I look at pictures of my family and re-read their letters. But I don't do this very often anymore. I just focus on the work. I even dream about missionary work. I eat, breathe and live missionary work.
Well, I hope everyone is safe and happy. I hope everyone is being a good example for others. Because trust me others(non-members) notice what you do. So be a friend to everyone. Live the Gospel. Keep your family safe. (This is possible as you live the Gospel.) I love and miss you all.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Hola from Texas!! So this week is a very exciting week. It begins the start of the new transfer. Transfer number 3 whohoo!!! Well, we have a baptism scheduled on the 23rd of Octuber for our investigator Alba. She has already passed her interview. We have pretty much everything organized. This has sure been a challenge I will have to tell you. Many phone calls and coordinating. Making handouts for the ward to invite everyone. The bishop had Alba stand up during Sacrament meeting so she could be recognized. She was just beaming from ear to ear. She is all set to go. She has had the whole anti-mormon junk thrown at her already and came back with a testimony. She reads and marks up her scriptures every night. We have it all worked out on who will be doing what for the baptism. I am very excited for Alba. She has become so special to me. I guess that is what happens when you spend so much time serving someone. You can't help but rejoice when they are doing well. So next week I will have lots of news about Alba's baptism. Alba is from Honduras.
As for transfers, if you haven't guessed already I will be staying in my area here in the Woodlands, now called Spring. But,.... My companion is changing. My old companion and trainer has finally been moved. She has been in this area for the past 7 transfers. She is headed off to Fairbanks which is in the Katy area of the mission. I have heard you do a lot of knocking in these areas. But I have heard Fairbanks does okay with the Spanish. My new companions name is Hermana Hastings. Funny enough Hermana Hastings trained my trainer Hermana Stephens in this same area. She knows this area really well. She was here for 5 transfers the last time she was here. This will be her last transfer in the mission. So in mission lingo I am killing off my grandma. We think she may have been sent back here to help us reactivate one of the families she baptized while she was here. They have slowly been coming to church less and less. And we have a hard time getting in contact with them. I am excited to learn from this very experienced missionary. It will be weird to not be driving everyday. Since my companion right now can't drive due to a health condition I drive everyday. How weird it will be to share the responsibility again.
I also now understand why they don't call you about transfers until like two days before transfers. When someone is moving it is really hard to focus on the missionary work. You have to think about saying goodbye to members. And what last minute things you want to do in the area. We are eating the amazing Blue Bell icecream tonight after planning. Blue Bell icecream is the best icecream I have ever tasted aside from homemade icecream. But it is also a lot more expensive. But as a tribute to my icecream eating companion we bought some. Hermana Stephens eats icecream any time she is stressed and needs a reminder of home. Icecream reminds her of her Dad. I haven't quite figured out what I do when I am a little homesick. I think I look at pictures of my family and re-read their letters. But I don't do this very often anymore. I just focus on the work. I even dream about missionary work. I eat, breathe and live missionary work.
Well, I hope everyone is safe and happy. I hope everyone is being a good example for others. Because trust me others(non-members) notice what you do. So be a friend to everyone. Live the Gospel. Keep your family safe. (This is possible as you live the Gospel.) I love and miss you all.
Love, Hermana Alaina Mills
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11th Letter
Hello Dear Family and Friends,
So this week we had a very exciting thing happen. One of our investigators passed her baptismal interview!!! Her baptism will be on the 26th or the 30th. We are still trying to everything scheduled. Our ward mission leader is out of town for a month and a half for work. Anyone who has been on a mission knows how long a time that is in a missionaries time-table. (A whole transfer) He was always so helpful and he really was the only way to get in contact with the bishopric. So now we are working directly with the bishopric and they work really slow. And they always tell us they need to check with someone first and then they forget. Sigh... But its okay we will get it all worked out and our investigator will be baptized. Hooray!! Also our other investigator who had his interview like a month ago and passed, but then got a new job and went out of town is coming back. We have been in contact with him over the phone alot. He goes to church wherever he is. And we have mini lessons over the phone. He wants to get baptized already. So he is looking to get sometime off work so his parents can come visit him and he can get baptized. So maybe we will have 2 baptisms this next transfer.
Oh so this Monday begins the last week of this 2nd transfer. Can anyone believe that my 2nd transfer in the field is basically over? Crazy how time works on your mission. So much happens in a day that you can hardly believe you are still in the same week. But the weeks you don't know what happened to them. Anyway, transfer calls will be on Saturday, this Saturday. I predict that my trainer will be transfered. This is her 7th transfer here in this area. Her entire time on her mission has been spent here. She will hit a year on her mission the end of this month which is next transfer. That is a long time to be in one area. There are actually quite a lot of other Hermanas who are the same "missionary" age as my companion who have never left their first areas. So I really see a lot of changes happening this transfer. I plan on being greenie broke. But I will have news about next transfer in my next letter.
This week is temple week in the mission. So I will be at the temple this week. I am excited to feel the peace and tranquility of the temple for a bit. This last week we had a tri-mission (Houston 'my mission', Houston South, and Houston West) conference with Elder Costa. Yes, the same one who spoke in conference. He gave us some great tips on listening to the spirit. Specifically he wants us to spend less time at investigators houses and go over more frequently. That way they will feel the spirit and think about what we testified to them right before we left. So we are trying to do this more. He promised us there would be more baptisms if we did. Elder Costa is over the South West Area of the United States Missions. He is a wonderful man. What great leaders we have to guide us. I am so grateful for them. When I watched conference I watched the entire thing in Spanish. So I understood the jist of what the speakers were saying but I definitely missed a lot. I am looking forward to the Ensign probably more than the rest of you. So I can read what I missed.
I pray you are all safe and happy. I love this Gospel. I love the Lord. I am grateful for this opportunity to walk with the Savior and see what he sees. May we all better commit ourselves to share the Gospel with those around us.
Until next week,
Hermana Alaina Mills
So this week we had a very exciting thing happen. One of our investigators passed her baptismal interview!!! Her baptism will be on the 26th or the 30th. We are still trying to everything scheduled. Our ward mission leader is out of town for a month and a half for work. Anyone who has been on a mission knows how long a time that is in a missionaries time-table. (A whole transfer) He was always so helpful and he really was the only way to get in contact with the bishopric. So now we are working directly with the bishopric and they work really slow. And they always tell us they need to check with someone first and then they forget. Sigh... But its okay we will get it all worked out and our investigator will be baptized. Hooray!! Also our other investigator who had his interview like a month ago and passed, but then got a new job and went out of town is coming back. We have been in contact with him over the phone alot. He goes to church wherever he is. And we have mini lessons over the phone. He wants to get baptized already. So he is looking to get sometime off work so his parents can come visit him and he can get baptized. So maybe we will have 2 baptisms this next transfer.
Oh so this Monday begins the last week of this 2nd transfer. Can anyone believe that my 2nd transfer in the field is basically over? Crazy how time works on your mission. So much happens in a day that you can hardly believe you are still in the same week. But the weeks you don't know what happened to them. Anyway, transfer calls will be on Saturday, this Saturday. I predict that my trainer will be transfered. This is her 7th transfer here in this area. Her entire time on her mission has been spent here. She will hit a year on her mission the end of this month which is next transfer. That is a long time to be in one area. There are actually quite a lot of other Hermanas who are the same "missionary" age as my companion who have never left their first areas. So I really see a lot of changes happening this transfer. I plan on being greenie broke. But I will have news about next transfer in my next letter.
This week is temple week in the mission. So I will be at the temple this week. I am excited to feel the peace and tranquility of the temple for a bit. This last week we had a tri-mission (Houston 'my mission', Houston South, and Houston West) conference with Elder Costa. Yes, the same one who spoke in conference. He gave us some great tips on listening to the spirit. Specifically he wants us to spend less time at investigators houses and go over more frequently. That way they will feel the spirit and think about what we testified to them right before we left. So we are trying to do this more. He promised us there would be more baptisms if we did. Elder Costa is over the South West Area of the United States Missions. He is a wonderful man. What great leaders we have to guide us. I am so grateful for them. When I watched conference I watched the entire thing in Spanish. So I understood the jist of what the speakers were saying but I definitely missed a lot. I am looking forward to the Ensign probably more than the rest of you. So I can read what I missed.
I pray you are all safe and happy. I love this Gospel. I love the Lord. I am grateful for this opportunity to walk with the Savior and see what he sees. May we all better commit ourselves to share the Gospel with those around us.
Until next week,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4th Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
Hooray it is more like fall weather here!!!!! We have had weather in the 70's and 80's. We still get some 90's but I am use to the weather now so I hardly notice it. The missionary effort keeps going forward. We knock on those doors. We talk to people in the street. We teach lessons and invite people to come to find the same happiness we all have. We give them Books of Mormon and ask them to read and pray. We had a neat experience with a new investigator. She and her husband have been married now for 2 years. They both work really hard and are really wonderful people. They are Seventh-Day Advantist(Spelling?). So they have some really good habits. We had a lesson with them about the Restoration. Well, they had both read. But where the story gets really good is what happened. They each had there own Book of Mormon and where reading in separate rooms. The wife started reading and she didn't know why but she just started crying. Even though she didn't realize it at that precise moment her spirit was feeling the Holy Ghost. Her husband also liked what he read. They both said that they have both done a lot of reading. They have read many other churches material and studied a lot. But they feel something different when they read the Book of Mormon. We helped them recognize that it is the spirit that they felt. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. They said that everything we teach them makes them feel good. We have high hopes for them.
Also it never ceases to amaze me how the spirit works. We have been working with a less active member. She hasn't been to church in many many years. She forgot basically everything so she is just like an investigator when we teach her. Well she came with us to conference on Sunday morning. On the way back to her house, because we rode with her, she said that she has been thinking about inviting her daughter to come to our appointments. She lives with her non-member daughter and her family. In the past they haven't been interested. But the mom said that she has really noticed how she has started to change as she reads the Book of Mormon and prays. I think this would really be great for their family. Also, it would help our less active member to come to church more if her family was coming too. It is a slow process but the Lord knows best and is preparing people. I just love when people really feel converted how they want everyone they love to have what they have.
The church is true!!! I love being a missionary. I love how I am growing and changing as well. I love what I am learning here. I love being the instrument of the Lord to reach out to others. I pray everyone is safe and happy. I hope everyone is working hard and loving this life. I love you all and miss you all. Let us all keep the faith so that one day we may return to our loving Heavenly Father, together. May God be with you.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
Hooray it is more like fall weather here!!!!! We have had weather in the 70's and 80's. We still get some 90's but I am use to the weather now so I hardly notice it. The missionary effort keeps going forward. We knock on those doors. We talk to people in the street. We teach lessons and invite people to come to find the same happiness we all have. We give them Books of Mormon and ask them to read and pray. We had a neat experience with a new investigator. She and her husband have been married now for 2 years. They both work really hard and are really wonderful people. They are Seventh-Day Advantist(Spelling?). So they have some really good habits. We had a lesson with them about the Restoration. Well, they had both read. But where the story gets really good is what happened. They each had there own Book of Mormon and where reading in separate rooms. The wife started reading and she didn't know why but she just started crying. Even though she didn't realize it at that precise moment her spirit was feeling the Holy Ghost. Her husband also liked what he read. They both said that they have both done a lot of reading. They have read many other churches material and studied a lot. But they feel something different when they read the Book of Mormon. We helped them recognize that it is the spirit that they felt. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. They said that everything we teach them makes them feel good. We have high hopes for them.
Also it never ceases to amaze me how the spirit works. We have been working with a less active member. She hasn't been to church in many many years. She forgot basically everything so she is just like an investigator when we teach her. Well she came with us to conference on Sunday morning. On the way back to her house, because we rode with her, she said that she has been thinking about inviting her daughter to come to our appointments. She lives with her non-member daughter and her family. In the past they haven't been interested. But the mom said that she has really noticed how she has started to change as she reads the Book of Mormon and prays. I think this would really be great for their family. Also, it would help our less active member to come to church more if her family was coming too. It is a slow process but the Lord knows best and is preparing people. I just love when people really feel converted how they want everyone they love to have what they have.
The church is true!!! I love being a missionary. I love how I am growing and changing as well. I love what I am learning here. I love being the instrument of the Lord to reach out to others. I pray everyone is safe and happy. I hope everyone is working hard and loving this life. I love you all and miss you all. Let us all keep the faith so that one day we may return to our loving Heavenly Father, together. May God be with you.
Love,
Hermana Alaina Mills
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