SIMPLY AMAZING

September 16, 2013

Hello Family!!!

This week was... well just simply AMAZING and super busy! I'm still not sure where the time went, but so much has happened. So bare with me as I try and explain everything. 

On Tuesday, we had exchanges. It was just for the day so Sister Rudd left and Sister Smith came to Cudahy with me. I drove which was SUPER stressful. Sister Smith is so great! Loved her immediately. However, she is an English call. Therefore, she doesn't speak Spanish. And we had a few lessons on Tuesday. But because the church is true, I was extremely blessed and able to teach in Spanish and understand almost everything! Sister Smith was so great and would bear her testimony in English at the end and would try and share scriptures. She didn't let the language barrier affect her at all! I had to do a little bit of translating, but it was really a cool experience. Also, fun fact about Sister Smith, she is the niece of Sister and Brother Dance. Remember them from CT? The same Sister Dance I saw in the mission office not to long ago!! Small world!! 

Tuesday we also received a call that we were having emergency transfers. We switched Thursday. Sister Rudd left and Sister Young came to Cudahy with me. I LOVE Sister Young. She hails from Utah and is just an amazing person. So full of enthusiasm and has a great desire to work hard. We have a new slogan here in Cudahy. "Get Money Get Paid." Sister Young showed up and the miracles started happening. Yesterday at church we had three less active families show up!! There is a woman in the ward named M. and she has a daughter E. (who is 20) and two young boys. We have been visiting them for the past few weeks. I just absolutely love them. And they finally came to church. (They haven't been for a super long time.) I was so stoked I almost started to cry. 

(Background story: There is a woman in the ward whose is a convert. Her husband, L., and son have had no desire to take the discussions. So obviously Sister Young and I decided to make them our best friends. We have tried stopping by a few times and met L. for the first time last Thursday.) So last night, we decided to go see the M. Family in the ward that we have been visiting about once a week. We drove by the house and saw a ton of people outside talking. Sister Young and I weren't sure if we should drop by or not, but I decided to go for it. If anything it would just be more people to talk to share the gospel with, right?? Well we park the car, and walk up. And guess what... L. is the brother of Hermana M. This probably doesn't seem like a big deal via email, but my mind was blown!!!! I had no idea they were related. But L. was excited to see us! And we were able to catch up with the family for a bit and share a short scripture. It was just such a great experience.

Also, this past week we ordered an Arabic Book of Mormon for our neighbors the S. I believe I've talked about them before. They love the missionaries and always give us food. Mr. S. is the sweetest. So we ordered them a Book of Mormon because I want them in the Celestial Kingdom with me. Sister Young and I wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to them last night. Mr. S. LOVED it! We had to finish our conversation with Mrs. S. because Mr. S. just started to read at once. It was so great. Love them!

Well I hope the great state of North Carolina is treating y’all well. I miss you all so much. Please know that miracles happen. Keep reading the Book of Mormon, read Moroni's promise in chapter ten. We had a training this past week, and one of the Elders asked us when was the last time we prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. It kind of hit everyone hard. We all need to be reading the book and asking for that testimony to keep growing. I invite you all to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. 

Love you all!! Love this gospel! And I love being a missionary. Its like no other experience. You see the hand of God in your life every day. How cool is that?!

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU. 

Hermana Mik Pillar

Oh, I just found out another emergency transfer today.  Hermana Young will only be my companion for four days!! I'm going into another trio with some of the best sisters in the mission and she is going to be a sister training leader! Life is nuts, but so exciting!!!!  I gotta go pack!

THEY ARE WONDERFUL

September 9, 2013

Hey Family,

So the work is going here in Cudahy. I don't have a ton of time, (sorry there's a time limit on the library computers.) So I'll make it brief. We have two super great families that we are teaching at the moment. The L. family and B. & N. They are WONDERFUL. Both are having issues with the whole going to church thing, but the Lord always provides a way. We have also been working with less actives a lot! LOVE THEM. Same thing. They need to get to church. But miracles are in the works.

This week we had a wonderful training on the Book of Mormon and committing people to meet with us. Our sister training leaders said that God is preparing people for us to meet. Whenever we find people on the street, we ask them if they will meet with us the next day. If they can't, then God needs to prepare them a little more. I was a bit nervous with this at first because most of the time people want to meet a week later. (The downside to this is they aren't there half the time.) But it’s been amazing. We've been asking people to meet the next day and are finding people!!! Our schedule is BOOKED for the next week. Sometimes they won't meet with us so we just have to give them our number and ask them to call us. But we are finding those who are part of the elect. So that's cool.

The second lesson was about the Book of Mormon. And how we need to makes sure active members of the church are reading the Book of Mormon every day. There's a special power that comes when we read the book and we need that in our homes. So here's my commitment to you. Read the book every day! You will see miracles. Promise.

Sorry that's all that I have time for today. Love you all.

Hermana Mik Pillar

STAND STILL AND WATCH

September 2, 2013

Hello Family!

So I hope this is getting to you. I am currently sitting in an internet cafe checking emails. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I had no idea what an internet cafe was like. I was kind of expecting some coffee and croissants and a few computers. Not quite. It’s more of like a computer store and it is a tad bit sketchy, especially when the power button didn't work the first twenty times on the computer. No worries though. Life is grand.

To answer your question about my shoulder bag, in all honesty, I hardly use it during the week. We just have too much stuff to carry and it gets to heavy and kills my shoulder. My companion and I carry our backpacks.  The shoulder bag has been super nice on P-Days though.

Updates on my new area... Cudahy. It is so hot here. I didn't realize how nice it was to be next to the coast in my last area. Venice was a good 10 degrees cooler with a breeze. Plus, Venice was close to the city. Cudahy is…well not city at all. Lots of houses, apartments, a few schools, and then maybe a few store. We hardly have any big name stores around here. But I really like it here. There's plenty of Latinos to talk too and our potential investigators are great people.

On Thursday we did "service." One of our less-actives is trying to start her own business from her home doing nails. She hasn't done acrylic nails for a while and asked if she could practice on us. We said sure. Well Sister Rudd went first and then we ran out of time before I could go. I don't think Sister Rudd realized what she had signed herself up for. She had these huge nails on her hands when we left and was struggling to use her hands for stuff. Being the mature and kind companion that I am, I laughed (and helped with what I could like untying her shoes.) That night she ran into the issue of trying to get her contacts out. So we tried to take the nails off. I'm not quite sure what type of glue was used to apply those bad boys, but they would not budge. WE TRIED EVERYTHING. Tender mercy from that night was Sister Rudd was able to get her contacts out with the nails and a few prayers. She found a way to clip them down, but they are still glued tight. All the other missionaries at our district meeting had a good laugh about it.

This past Friday, we also had exchanges with our Sister Trainer Leaders. The night before the STL called to inform us that Sister Rudd would be leaving the area and I would be staying while Sister Burbank came. I was nervous and stressing. It was my first time ever being the "more knowledgeable" one about the area. Friday came and guess who got to drive for her first time in LA; This girl right here. Can you say best day ever?! Loved it. Loved driving. Loved being the one to call the ropes. And we had a terrific day. We found three new people who were interested in hearing more. Unfortunately they don't live in our area so we had to pass them on to the missionaries in their areas, but hey its still building the kingdom.

Saturday I got to go to a Samoan baptism and then a Spanish wedding for dinner. I love LA! 

Overall we had a pretty solid week. I'm trying to apply the teachings from the Doctrine & Covenants to my mission.  I love how we are not asked to do anything alone. All we are asked to do is our best. Then we need to stand still and watch. Jesus Christ will make up the difference. I need to remind myself sometimes to stand still and watch. It’s not necessarily easy, but when we take the time to watch we see the miracles that happen in our life. We really do see the hand of the Lord.  Look for the miracles. They are there. Promise.

Like always... love you all!!!! The Church is so true!

Praying for you daily,

Hermana Mik Pillar

THE CITY OF ENOCH

August 28, 2013

Dear Mom and Family,

I am so sorry!!!! We had temple p-day this week and its on Wednesday. Temple P-days is done by zone and I didn't even think about that fact that I was switching zones last week. SORRY!! I realized this last weekend and felt so bad for not letting you know that I wouldn’t be emailing until Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday were regular days and were long.  I was running out of food and was glad for p-day. We have a car and drove to the temple after picking some Elders who live near Compton and are on bikes.  I'm emailing from the family history library, but usually the missionaries in my zone use the public library, which will be closed next week so I don’t know if you will hear from me. 

I've officially completed one week in my new area Cudahy and boy is it different. First off, I'm not right on the coast anymore. Which means it’s HOT all the time. Thankfully we are not on bikes. Cudahy is 97% Latino. Basically, I'm in a Little Mexico and love it. I'm getting so much practice with my Spanish. 

My new companion is Hermana Rudd and she is great. This is her third transfer in the area, and she admits the area needs some work. We have renamed Cudahy "The City of Enoch" and plan to baptize everyone and eventually we will all be translated and go up to heaven. We'll start with a goal of four baptisms this transfer, and then take off from there. Our plan of attack is going to be through the members and talking to everyone on the street. (We've already met several people on the street and have return appointments with them.) We are still in the planning stages, but I'll let you know how it goes. 

We've also been visiting a lot of less-actives. In my last area, we didn't have a ton, so I never had to do it before. I love them and it’s so great being able to talk to them and help them remember the gospel. Plus, they have really good questions. Questions I've never thought about before, so it’s making me think. We've had some really good lessons so far.

Also, I met my neighbors this past week. Mr. and Mrs. S. They are originally from Lebanon and have been in the states for like ever. I'm completely obsessed with them. Both are super sweet and super kind and have so much personality! Mr. S. even gave us some fruit the other day. Before I leave Cudahy I'll get a picture with them. 

So two important things I learned/ realized this week:

1) During this past week, my companion and I were talking about the Second Coming. With the new announcement that missionaries can use the internet, we have now entered a stage where the gospel is in all parts of the world. As far as signs of the time, all we have left is the gathering and then the coming. Do you realize what this means! Christ is coming! 

2) I have yet again been reminded of the importance of daily scripture study. It kind of hit this past week; the power of the Book of Mormon. Investigators are not allowed to get baptized unless they are reading the Book of Mormon every day. How can they gain a firm testimony of the gospel is they are not reading the keystone of our religion? So what does this mean for us as members...? We need to be reading every day. We need to keep strengthening our testimony. We need to have the power of the Book of Mormon in our lives daily. If not, we are providing an excellent opportunity to let ourselves slip. So here's an invitation for all of you, read it every day. I don't care if its 5 minutes or 30. Read the book. Let the power change your life and help you to grow. It will happen. Promise.

Love you all! And I'll keep you updated on the City of Enoch!!! 

Hermana Mik Pillar

AND THE VERDICT IS...

August 20, 2013 

Hello Family!!! 

Greetings from the LA area. So transfer calls came last night. And the verdict is... I'm leaving Venice. Actually both my companion and I are leaving. I don't know if I've ever mentioned but our ward had 5 companionships of missionaries. President Weidman thought that was too many and as a result, we are the ones to leave. Our area is being divided and given to three other companionships. Sister Perry is going English speaking and I am headed to the Downy and serving in an area called Cudahay. My new companion will be Sister Rudd. I've only heard really good things about the area, which is nice. Apparently, it’s like a little Mexico and its one of the areas all Spanish speaking missionaries want to serve in. I've got mixed feelings, excitement with a small dose of shear terror. But I'll go where the Lord wants me to go. It will work out. With the call to leave, I also realized how much I love the people in my area. It’s going to hurt a little to say goodbye. That's the life of a missionary for you, new adventure, and new people. I didn't sleep well last night and have so much packing to do today.

One of the families we had just recently started teaching is the C. family. Because of different schedules we were teaching the sons separately from the parents. (The sons work and are in there 30s.) They are super great people. I felt so accomplished for just getting into their house. A lot of Hispanic people are Catholic. And some of them have a sign on the door that says "This is a Catholic House. No Soliciting Please." The Cruz have one of these signs on their doors. But they let us in. :) I hope whomever takes over their area takes good care of them. They all have a lot of potential. 

Tomorrow we are leaving for the transfers. Each morning we run in this park and over the past few months have become acquainted with a lot of the people. We know all the owners and their dogs. This morning we went on our run and said goodbye to all of them. Our one friend Michael is disappointed we are leaving. Sister Perry said after her mission she’s coming back to the park to convert Michael. Ha-ha I really hope so!

Highlights from this week, we started our English class. Los Angeles English is officially teaching to the Spanish population. And the classes were a huge success. We've had two classes so far and both days we averaged about 20 people. Not to shabby. I taught the intermediate level on Thursday and loved it. Teaching is way harder than I ever thought, but so much fun. Hopefully, we will be able to start up another unit in my new area. 

This past week I've been reading in Mosiah; such great stories. I cannot even believe the testimonies those people had. They heard the word and were converted even though it meant persecution. They turned to their Lord and I love how he didn't just take away their burdens. He made their burdens seemed light. The Lord doesn't make our problems and trials go away. He makes us stronger. He loves us enough to allow us to go through the difficult times so we can be better people. I love this. I love the mission. It’s hard and at times terrifying, but it’s amazing all at the same time. 

The Church is true. Christ lives. Keep the Faith.

LOVE YOU ALL.

Good luck Maddie and James with the start of school. 

Hermana Mik Pillar  

Sister Moeller, Sister Forbush, Hermana Pillar & Hermana Pillar  

A watermelon decorated like a cake; made a member (Martinez) daughter. 

Pineapple dinner at the Olivares.  So good! 

Hermana Pillar & Sister Lago 

Olivares Family, Hermana Perry & Hermana Pillar 

Hermana Perry, Hermana Pillar, Sister Lago & Sister Fautz 

Hermana Pillar & Elder Blackham (a friend from freshman year at BYU)

The Kelleys who work in the mission office. "Love them!"

Venice Area 

Last night in the Venice area; Rogelio & Saul 

Venice Zone

HARD STUFF MAKES US STRONGER

August 12, 2013

Hello Family!!!

Okay mom you are the best! Your blogging skills are helping to forward the work! We had a Los Angeles English meeting yesterday to help prepare for the start of classes tomorrow. The Elder in charge of the whole production mentioned that the website search ratings went up because someone put a link on their blog. He was like "Its called Mike in the Clam or something like that...?" I was like "THAT'S MINE!!" So way to go Mom!!! 

And that's so great you are getting to know the Elders. I'm sure their families are appreciating the pictures. Missionaries are the best! Not that I'm bias or anything. :-)

To answer your questions, I was in Hollywood for only one night and it was during the week. The Preach My Gospel class is something they do on a Tuesday night. It’s the same time as mutual and all that stuff. As for adding music to the i-shuffle, I have no idea. And I don't know if the mission leader sells wands. I don't think he has in the past. He and his wife are out of town for the next few weeks, but if I stay in the area I'll be sure to ask. I LOVE my shoes, especially the blue ones. They are so comfortable. The black ones are great too. The only ones I don't really like are the brown ones. I thought they would be the most comfortable and they are the ones that gave me the blisters. Plus, they aren't that cute. And thanks for not letting me get the old lady shoes. I saw a man wearing the “man version” the other day. I was like, I almost bought shoes like that…awkward. 

CONGRATS TO MCKENZIE!!! I'm sure she will love serving in DC; especially in the Visitors Center!!! 

(Editor’s note:  Mikayla’s cousin, McKenzie received her mission call and will be reporting December 18, 2013). 

Thanks for the update on your lives. It’s always great to hear about what everyone is up too. 

This week we did a lot of service! A lot. We were assigned a time to help with Temple Cleaning on Wednesday. When we arrived assignments were changed and we end up not working in the temple, but in the patron apartments, which are right next door. It was fun. They are renovating the apartments, so we just helped moved out old furniture. My companion Sister Perry found this sound soother thing. It has all these different sounds like "ocean waves" "thunderstorm" "rainforest". You get the idea. She has been having problems sleeping at night, and she took it as an answer to a prayer. She asked the man in charge what they were going to do with the extra stuff and he told her she could have it. So this whole week we've been falling asleep to the sounds of thunderstorms. Apparently it’s working for her. 

Yesterday was also Sister Perry's birthday. She's finally left the good years of what she calls "joventud" and has become a full grown adult. She's twenty. It’s been fun living up the past week. Last P-Day I took her for pedicures to celebrate her birthday. Oh and funny thing about the pedicures. We didn't have enough time to let the polish fully dry, so they put bags around our feet to prevent the paint from smudging. Yes we walked in public with bags on our feet. We also currently have four birthday cakes in our fridge at home. The members love to take care of us especially during our birthdays. So there has been no shortage of cake. When we were at Rogelio's house on Saturday for lunch and cake, they told her to participate in the Mexican tradition and bite the edge of the cake before cutting it. Well as she went for the bite, they shoved her face into the cake. It was hilarious and she loved it! I love the Mexican culture. 

One of my friends (shout out to Mackenzie Peay!!) sent me a talk last week in the emails and I absolutely love it. It is by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and called "Give us This Day our Daily Bread." LDS.org - CES Fireside - Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread  It talks about how we need to trust and rely on the Lord every day. Just like the Children of Israel had to trust the Lord every day to give them the mana, we have to trust him every day to provide us with our needs. Take things one day at a time and put your full trust in him. It’s definitely something I am learning to do on the mission. But it’s a wonderful talk. If you have a second, read it! 

Love you all and thanks so much for your support. Also, transfers are next week so P-Day will be on Tuesday. Just a heads up for when my next email will come your way. There is a chance that Sister Perry will be transferred. She is the best and I've never been without her while I've been in CA. If she leaves I'll be the one to know the area the best. That's terrifying! But I think I could do it. Hard stuff makes us stronger right, so I'll just look ahead at how this is improving me.  Oh and guess what, I will hit my three month mark this week. I'll officially be on the mission longer that I was in Spain. That is so weird to think about. I can't decide if the time is going fast or not. This transfer flew by, but this past week was really slow. I guess to make up for it. 

Thanks again for everything. LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!!!

Hermana Mik Pillar 

Pedi by Linda 

Happy Birthday Sister Perry!

When polish isn't dry!

Happy Birthday Hermana Perry

"EXPELLIARMUS"

AUGUST 5, 2013

Dear Family,

First, please let the YW know that Sister Perry and I say THANK YOU SO MUCH! Their candy grams were so cute and really touched us. Neither one of us was expecting it. So thanks you!!! 

(Editor's note:  The Young Women in Mik's home ward made candy grams for all the missionaries serving from the ward.  They contact the missionary's mom and asked for 2 of their favorite types of candy.  The Young Women were working on a Good Works Personal Progress experience.  Mik's mom had the Young Women make a candy gram for Sister Perry as well.)

To answer your questions really fast: It depends on the week if we have a lot of meals or not. Last week was a tender mercy and we were fed every day. But some weeks we do cook for ourselves a lot more. I do use my i-pod shuffle. We listen to it in the morning while getting ready or during a meal. It’s been a real blessing. No washer and dryer in the apartment. So we just take it to a laundry mat. Nothing too exciting. I use my blue fuzzy blanket all the time. It’s basically my favorite thing; it’s just so soft!!!! We don't have a set number of hours for service, we just try and do it whenever we can. This week I think we will be helping cook food for Youth Conference. And yeah when I was in Hollywood I spend just one night there. 

I love that we have the opportunity to email you each week, but it’s frustrating because so much stuff happens and I just don't have time to type it all. This must have been what the ancient prophets of old felt like trying to carve the scriptures. Well, more or less. I'm sure they had more patience that I do.

Anyways... the highlights! So some exciting news is our ward will be starting an English class for the Spanish population. The Chinese in our mission developed a program and it’s LEGIT. They have handouts with copyrights and a website. (Check it out... www.losangelesenglish.com) So we are the first area to translate the program into English, and we are excited. Hopefully all goes well. My companion and I will be teaching the intermediate class. I'm so excited, but really nervous too. I have no idea how to teach a class so once again I am referring to my motto of the year "building character." I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. The first class is August 13. 

Other cool stuff, I met a ton of really cool members this week. First would be T. L. He's in the English Ward so long story of how we actually met him, but he took us out for REALLY good Mexican food this week. And he's the coolest guy ever. He has been in the producing business for a long time and apparently worked with some really famous people. I was blown away with his stories. He's been a convert for about 12 years and his conversion story is the coolest!! Plus he's been helping us find some referrals. So basically, he's the man. 

He asked us to go visit an elderly woman in his ward, which we did yesterday. Her name is Mary Ellen Y. and she's 92 years old! 92 years old!! People that is a really long time!!! She's so cute and very little, but I love her. She's legally blind and her hearing is fading (so my telephone call with her to let her know where were coming was a bit interesting,) but her memory is great and she has the cutest stories. Her husband died when she was in her seventies so she said she's been a widow for a very long time. But she said that she has never had an interest in marrying again. Her direct quote was, "I was married to the best man in the world. Why would I want another one?" Ahh man it was really precious. And I felt so privileged just to meet her. She' has lived through so much history its amazing! I seriously cannot wait to go back and visit her. 

Yesterday we also had the chance to meet with our ward mission leader. And I'm obsessed with his and his wife's life. They have traveled the world together and have the coolest pictures. Also, something very interesting, he likes to carve wands. So he gave us a tour of his wand collection yesterday. I felt like I was in museum. And in all honesty, they were really cool. He's really good at it. They are just a really cool couple. 

Someone else who I have already met, but is so cool is Rogelio. He's one of the recent converts in the ward and has basically become our third companion. He accompanies us on a lot of our lessons, which has been a great help. He's gotten some people that have dropped us to agree to go to the Visitor's Center. I'm amazed. Plus even on the street, he will go up to people and offer them a pass along card and tell them to meet with us. He's the best and been a huge blessing in our lives! His testimony has really helped me and really shown me not to take the Gospel for granted. We are privileged to have it in our lives. So it’s our responsibility to share it. 

In the scriptures lately, I've been reading in Mosiah about King Zeniff and his people. When the Lamanties went to attack them, they knew they had the Lord on their side, He protected them, and they prevailed. The Lord really does protect us in our times of need. It’s been amazing to see how He protects his missionaries and on top of that how He even comforts them in their time of need. I love this Gospel and the joy it brings me. We are very blessed, so blessed. It’s crazy. 

Well those are the highlights. 

Thanks again for all your prayers. Not a lie when I say I can feel them. 

Love you all so much. 

Hermana Mik Pillar

"Expelliarmus"

Candy Gram from the Morrisville YW