Kayla's Baptism

Hey everyone! This week was really really good! Probably one of my favorite weeks I've had on my Mission no doubt. It was probably Elder Hansen and I's last full week together :( so we knew we were going to have to go out in style, and we did our best. 

The Best thing that happened this week was...KAYLA GOT BAPTIZED!!! #HALLELUJAH it was so amazing! Her baptism went of without a hitch, except I had to dunk her twice because her hair didn't go all the way under lol. Just another reason for me to hate pony tails! In all seriousness though it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had to be able to baptize Kayla. She is one of the coolest people I know and I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father touched her heart and made it possible for us to teach her. It was also great to be in the circle as Elder Hansen confirmed Kayla, and as she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Ok like I said Elder Hansen and I have been trying to work as hard as possible and try to have as much fun as possible before he get's transferred. So we were pounding the pavement quite a bit this past week, our Zone has been struggling with finding new Investigators the past few weeks. So our Zone Leaders challenged everyone to get five new Investigators this past week, which is a decently hard amount, even for Cedar Rapids but we went with it. Luckily through lots of Prayer and lots of knocking we were able to find seven new people to teach this week which was pretty cool! 

Ok so you guys know, I'm all about the funny stories; not saying I'm not about the Spiritual stuff, but I gotta talk about the funny stories they get me through the tough stuff lol.

#1

Okay so we are driving with our ZL's to go see there Investigator (10 year old boy named Isaiah) but we are driving through this Ghetto back ally and all of a sudden we just see this beefy black boy on a bike cut out in front of us and he just gets NAILED by our truck.. by nailed I mean we were going a solid 4 maybe 5 mph but this kid went down. But one of our ZL's Elder Clark is like yelling and the kid stands up and all I here is "It's Isaiah, you hit Isaiah!" The ZL's literally hit their little Investigator with their car...lol. But we all get out and there's this Ghetto black guy watching the whole thing from his balcony and he yells across to Isaiah's house "Hey! They Hit your fat friend! They hit him with the truck!" Dude it sounds bad but I was dying it was so funny. Isaiah turned out to be all good though don't worry, he just scrapped his elbow. But the Cops came later and ran the ZL's ID hahaha. But Isaiah came to Church Yesterday so all good all gravy. 

#2

So the Friday before Kayla's baptism she gave us presents lol, she gave us everything we like so she gave me crazy American Socks (Because I always wear crazy socks, and because I always show her scriptures that talk about how America is the Choice Land lol) and she gave me my favorite candy, and blue powerade. But one thing she included were these thing's called "It Works Wraps" they are basically these things that people wear to get rid of fat, Hansen and I joked we wanted some for our faces. But she actually got us some, so last night Hansen and I put these wraps on our faces to try and get rid out of our potential double chins lol. Pictures to come.

Well Sorry for the Long email, it was a good week though. I love you all! Keep the Faith! Be Blessed! 

Elder Milligan

Trying to get rid of our double chins with some "It Works" wraps.

Independence Day

Happy belated 4th of July everyone! I hope you all had an awesome day celebrating our amazing country we are so blessed to live in! Yesterday was probably one of the most fun I've had on my mission thus far! Cedar Rapids goes HAM for the 4th, everyone is really patriotic which was cool to see. Yesterday was a blast though, we had P-Day and went to the local Wal-Mart and I don't think I've ever seen so many classic "Wal-Mart" people, it was hilarious. After we got groceries we decided to go to Chic-Fil-a for lunch and as we were ordering our food some nice guy from out of town came and paid for us! He was a super cool guy! The rest of P-day we just messed around and played ball at the Church with the rest of the Elders and Sisters in our Zone. The AP's actually cut our P-day short by two hours, but luckily a member came in clutch and fed us dinner at 4:00 pm so we didn't have to go knock doors at all ;). The best part of the day was after we had to go into the house at 6:00we had two other Elders sleep over and we had a big barbecue in the backyard of our house. We pretty much just chilled and played football and sting pong for the rest of the night and then watched fireworks from the roof! It was definitely weird being away from the fam on the 4th for the first time but it was still a solid day! 

Anyways this past week was pretty much a roller coaster, we had a baptism fall through which was probably the worst day of my mission. But the next day our investigator Kayla came to Church and it was so great! I can't even get started about Kayla, she's literally the best. I've never had an investigator like her, we knocked into her my first week in CR and she invited us to come back after we taught her and she has been great. She reads everything we tell her to, and she takes notes and writes down questions she has, then she goes over her notes and questions with us at the beginning of each lesson! She's probably got the most desire to learn of anyone I've ever taught! She was even taking notes during testimony meeting on her phone! (I was actually really worried that her first time at Church was testimony meeting, but it worked out in our favor for once lol). The best thing with Kayla happened on Sunday night, we stopped by and told her that if she wants to be baptized on the 16th she'd have to quit drinking coffee and alcohol that day. We were kind of nervous cause that was the only thing she was iffy on, but man she blew us away. She was just like "Ok I'll stop, here just take all my coffee and alcohol and throw it away." So she just threw it all out! She had this $250 bottle of alcohol that she got in the Caribbean and she was like "Whatever!" and just chucked it in the trash bag! She's so faithful it blows my mind! I'm way excited for her.

Other than that it was a pretty normal week, we are teaching a cool black girl named Mehzore, she's going to play soccer at Iowa State so we are trying to get her baptized before she goes to school in the fall!

That's all I have for this week, but I hope you all have a great week! I love you guys! God bless America!

Elder Milligan 

The Titanic

What's up fam?!

This past week has been interesting to say the least!  Elder Hansen and I had some pretty funny encounters this past week and met a lot of crazy people! We are still working with a lot of people we have around 15 people that are investigating but we didn't have our truck this week so we had to walk all week. About 12 of our investigators live by the college that is like a five mile walk from our house! This week has been the most exhausting week of my mission, probably my life too. The weather here is killer, literally I feel like we could die any day lol. We actually learned a fun fact from one of the members in the Ward, turns out Eastern Iowa, and Western Illinois is actually the most humid part of the country. I didn't believe him at first but he showed us online, so yeah if you don't hear back next week it's probably cause Hansen and I are laying dead on the sidewalk somewhere in downtown CR.

Despite the inhospitable weather, the work here is still going good! Our investigators are still in the learning phases and are still afraid to make big steps, one awesome thing was our Investigator Kayla came to a baptism for one of the Sisters Investigators. The Spirit was really strong and you could tell she was really touched. We are really working hard to get people to Church, most of the people we teach don't have cars, and most of the members in the Ward are rebelling and refusing to give them rides. So that's fun to deal with, but we have high hopes for all 20 of our new friends! We know the Lord will provide a way to get these humble people to Church and help them be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Funny Stories:

Ok Update on the Bird. So last week I wrote about the bird who got in our bathroom and was flying a muck. So we get home from P-day that night and Hansen goes up stairs, and again I hear "BIRD! THE BIRD IS IN OUR ROOM!" And he runs away again lol! So at this point I'm just sick and tired of this darn bird flying all erratic in my house. What happened next is a little fuzzy but all I remember is taking the little guy out with a broom. Problem solved.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe 4th of July! I'm grateful to live in the Land that is Choice above all others! Love you guys!

Peace,

Elder Milligan

Birds

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Father's Day yesterday! I just want to start off with a quick shout out to my Dad for being the best Father out there and always being such a great example to me! It definitely strange being away from my family on Father's day for the first time. The past few days in CR have in INSANE. Elder Hansen and I have literally been running from appointment to appointment, luckily it was our turn to have the truck this week or else we would have died. Serving in Cedar Rapids is like a dream, missionary work-wise. We found 12 new investigators this week which is more than I found my entire five months in Waverly! Safe to say I'm enjoying serving in the big city setting and teaching crazy  people every day. My first full week in the city has been legit, so many missionary opportunities it's insane. Some of my favorite people we taught this week are named Wendee and Kayla. Wendee is awesome, we met her on my first day in CR we were on like a hour long walk to stop by another investigator and it was like 95 degrees outside. Wendee works at this Cafe and ran outside and told us she just "Felt like she needed to give us water" so now we are teaching her during the week at the Cafe lol. The other lady Kayla is awesome too, she's a single mom and has a really cute little boy who's super crazy. Kayla is really humble and likes the conservative ideals of the Church, she's also sassy as all get out. So naturally we just argue back and forth it's really funny. They are both coming to church this Sunday hopefully so we are excited for them to progress. As for the other 9 investigators, their still in the beginning stages. We should be baptizing our Afeican friend, Sunzu this Saturday. We could use some prayers that he'll meet with us regularly though!

Ok two stories for you guys. The first one was I had my first exciting ghetto experience, we were knocking in these super hood apartments and we are walking up to this door and all of a sudden we hear a Gunshot! It was on the very far end of the complex from us but it was still super loud! Then all these people come out of their apartments and Hansen and I were just like "We need one more OYM!" so we talked to the first person that came out about the Plan of Salvation lol. It was funny though as we were leaving we could hear all these crazy people speculating on what happened and basically betting on who shot who. I was just thinking man this isn't Waverly anymore haha.

The Second story just happened actually. Elder Hansen and I were talking in the house and he goes into the bathroom, then I hear him scream at the top of his lungs. So he comes running out yelling " Bird! Bird! There's a bird in the Bathroom!" And he just runs down the stairs and leaves me in the kitchen all confused. We tried to catch it in a box but it ran under neath our tub and we can't get it. So most likely it'll die down there and stink up the whole house, so that'll be exciting. 

I hope you all have a great week! Shout out to all the Dads and Future Dads out there, I know being the favorite parent isn't an easy job but some one has to do it! 

Love you all

Elder Milligan

Elder Hansen and Elder Milligan vs the World

June 13, 2016

What's up everyone?! This past week has been C-R-A-Z-Y!  So this past week I found out that I would be leaving Waverly, Iowa and be going down south to Cedar Rapids! I also found out that my new companion was going to be ELDER JESS HANSEN!!! I flipped a biscuit when I found out, actually at first I got mad at the AP's cause I thought they were pulling my leg, but then I realized they were telling the truth and I freaked out! I'm beyond excited to serve with my bro, I've never been so pumped about Missionary work. 

I would say I was sad about leaving Waverly, and it would be partially true. I met a lot of wonderful people there and was blessed to be able to see three people get baptized in that tiny area. But I was way to excited to be sad about leaving lol. I did get to say goodbye to all of the people I taught and that was pretty hard, but I'm very excited and happy for them to continue to progress in the Gospel!

Saying Goodbye to Elder Madsen was way rough though, I love that guy he is an amazing missionary and I know he'll keep killing it in Waverly. 

The work here in CR is off the chain! We have met a lot of cool people! and I am literally living my dream because there are tons of Africans in the Ward here and they are great at fellowshipping and finding us new Africans to teach! The Ward is multilingual and there's tons of different cultures that come together, it's pretty neat to see. This past week we had our investigator named Siraj come to Church for the first time. He's really cool, he's like 4'10 and is from Nepal he's super humble and awesome! We also have a few other investigators including a guy named Sunzu from Africa, he should be getting baptized soon. 

I don't have a whole lot to say this week mostly because I've only been in this area a few days. But I'm super pumped to be serving with such a sick companion. Cedar Rapids 3rd East better watch out, cause Elder Milligan and Elder Hansen are here to do work. 

Elder Milligan Out. 

Here's a Pic with Hansen and I with a dead bunny lol

Sister Kerr's Baptism

June 6, 2016

What's up world? This past week in Waverly has been off the chain, we were able to get a lot of good work done in our area this past week Elder Madsen and I have been working our butts off trying to build on the success we've been experiencing this transfer. One of the greatest blessings we were able to receive was finding three new investigators, now that may not seem like much, especially to my Spanish speaking comrades but In Waverly where we speak English (God's Favorite language as we like to call it) three people willing to learn more about the Gospel and accepting of the baptismal invite is a cause to rejoice lol! We are super grateful to have found these awesome people who are ready to hear the Gospel, and they were definitely all an answer to our prayers! Our first answer was we had been praying for a media referral the past week and on the last day of the week, we finally got one! It lead us to a young couple named Justin and Allie (Justin used to be married to a girl named Emily), they have a really cute daughter named Kaelyn, we have been searching for an awesome young family to teach and our prayers have finally been answered! 

But the blessings didn't stop there, on Saturday afternoon we were finding out in this powdunk town called Nashua (there's actually a famous song about Nashua, called "Little Brown Church") and we knocked on the door of this nice lady named Holly, we were teaching her the restoration on her doorstep and it started pouring rain. We almost stopped cause it was raining so hard but she told us she wanted to hear the rest, then she said she'd get baptized if she continued to feel the way she felt while we were teaching her! It was such a cool and spiritual experience! We are very excited to go back and teach her more about the Gospel, she is solid. Unfortunately I probably won't be in this area to see these people progress with transfers coming up, but I am so excited an grateful that the Lord has prepared them to receive the Gospel! 

My favorite part of this week however was by far, Sister Janette Kerr getting baptized! It was an awesome experience to see her enter the waters of baptism and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost! I'm so happy for our new Branch President and his wife that they were able to have this amazing experience together. Also I'm so grateful that Janette was so willing and ready to receive the Gospel, I guess being married to a Branch President would be pretty helpful in that respect haha. I'm also so grateful for Heavenly Father making it possible for us to get her baptized and giving us our third great Convert in the Waverly area this year! 

It's pretty funny since our Branch hadn't baptized anyone in years, the former Branch President refused to set a goal with us, so technically we have a branch goal of "Zero". So whenever we have district meeting Elder Madsen and I like to say we are exceeding our yearly goal by "Three-Infinity" ;)

Well I hope you all have a great Week and find opportunities to share the Gospel! I love you all!

Elder Milligan

The End of an Era

May 31, 2016

Hey Everyone! This week has been pretty good here in Waverly, we have been pretty blessed as far as Missionary work goes and have seen a lot of progress with our investigators! We were able to find two new investigators name George and Justin. They are both really cool dudes and we have high hopes for both of them. Justin's parents are members and they called and referred him to us and that was an answer to our prayers that day! They are both pretty spiritual and want to know more and Justin has already accepted the Baptismal Invite. The big thing that happened this week however is that my favorite lady Sister Kerr will be getting baptized this coming Saturday! We are really pumped for her, she started officially investigating two weeks ago, so she's one of those mythical "Two Weekers" that everyone in this Mission wants to find haha. I'm really looking forward to this baptism because it is our Branch President's wife, and the branch is taking care a lot more of the details then Usual. So this one should be a lot less stressful then the past two have been lol. 

I have really enjoyed serving in Waverly but according to my Mission President my time will be up next week and I'll probably be leaving. But I'm really excited for how much this area has grown, I feel like I have been growing along with it. I've had two great companions to serve with and the Big Man has definitely blessed us, because of that we were able to baptized three people in Waverly which is triple the amount this area has had in the past three years. 

There wasn't too many funny experiences this week, but one thing that was kind of funny happened when Elder Madsen and I were out finding by the college. This past week Waverly had the huge honor of hosting the Divison III track and field National Championships, pretty crazy I know. But anyways we were knocking around by the college and all these athletes were running around the streets trying to stay loose I guess and one girl who runs for Wartburg the local college walked by, naturally we started talking to her and she said we could talk more, but she had to stay warmed up.. So we jogged down the street next to her and talked about the restoration, I don't think she knew we'd actually be willing to run with her lol. Looking back from an outside perspective that had to be pretty funny to watch two missionaries running on either side of this track girl trying to talk about Prophets and the Book of Mormon haha. 

I hope you all have a great week! 

Also, Happy Belated birthday to my awesome Sister Natalie! If you see her tell her Happy Birthday and Congrats on officially becoming "Middle Aged" ;) #30YearsOld

Love you all,

Elder Milligan