Saturday, December 19, 2015

Christmas.Mormon.Org

This has been a beautiful week! I love feeling the Christmas spirit!
 
Earlier this week we were asked to give the boy scouts a tour of the church because they were going around to 10 different churches that day to learn about the 10 Commandments, a different Commandment at each church. The lady who arranged the activity told us there could be anywhere from 4-100 people. So we werent sure how many to expect. It was just us and the Elders, we planned a lesson to teach our commandment, which was, "Thou shalt not kill". So 150 people ended up coming!!! And we were not prepared at all for that many people!!! We totally swung the whole thing but somehow I ended up in the front of the group tour around the building, so I gave the church tour. It was so scary... haha... at the end of the presentation we left it open for people to ask questions. The Spirit was really strong and I think we planted a lot of good seeds:) The Spirit had to go into overtime because we had no idea what we were doing! Some of the people noticed that we were the youngest of all the religious leaders they had seen that day. I thought that was cool. The Lord uses the weak things of this world to show forth His power. 

Do you guys remember when I sent the stroy of the lady that rejected us because she said, "I'm sorry! I cant talk right now because  there is an earthquake!!" But we were confused because there was no earthquake? But we were extra confused because there were palm leaves all over her front yard and it looked like her house was having an earthquake because of the palm leaves. Well we went back to her house this week and her husband answered the door and said, "Did you guys come here and my wife was really frantic about an earthquake?" And we said "Yeesss!!!!!!" And he explained that she is really scared of earthquakes and he was on the roof that day pruning his palm trees in the back yard and then throwing them down to the front yard...hahaha and she didn't know he was up there! So she heard the noise and thought it was an earthquake. We laughed about it and then he let us show him the new Christmas video and then he totally opened up to us about his faith. It was such a cool finding story:)

The Christmas video is found at christmas.mormon.org. I invite everyone to watch it!! I get something new from it every time i see it! I know you can too. It will help you refocus on Christ this Christmas. Every time someone agrees to watch this video, they either become a new investigator or they invite us back. The power behind the video truly amazes me.

Ok well this will be my last mission blog because next week I will be really busy getting ready to go. 
 
I want to share my testimony with you.

If you would have asked me before my mission why I wanted to go, it was because I knew that I would be closer to my Savior than any other time in my life. I learned that being close to our Savior is not rainbows and butterfly's. Its really hard sometimes! Every time I am rejected, I know that it humbles me and it brings me closer to Christ because He was also rejected and despised by men. I have come to know that everyone can be close to Jesus Christ, not just missionaries. All we need to do is remember Him and follow Him. We need to follow his Commandments so that He can poor his blessings upon us.

I know that we have a Father in Heaven that watches over us and hears our prayers. He loves us so much that He gave his son in order for us to return to Him. I love the story of Abraham and Issac because it helps me realize a little bit how it felt to be Heavenly Father when he gave up his son's life for us. I know that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is very individual. That means he suffered for us individually and His love for us surpasses all other love. The scriptures say that, "There is no greater love than this, that a man layeth down his life for his friend." Or something along those lines. I know that is true, Christ is our brother and our friend and all joy in life is found because of Him.

I know that our Father in Heaven has a plan for us. Part of that plan is going through things that are hard. But I know that our trials can bring us closer to God when we rely on Him. I know it seems like Satan is winning in the world, but he is not. I know that all things good will conquer all things bad in the end. I know that through Jesus Christ all things will be made right in the end. I know there is life after this and when we endue our life well, we can be with our families for all eternity. I am so grateful to know that I can be with my family forever. They truly have taught me how to love people and that is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I know that God calls prophets because He loves us and His word never stops. Revelation was not made so that it can stop. God continually speaks to us through the scriptures, prayer and through a living prophet. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a Prophet of God and he was an honorable man. I know he saw God and Jesus Christ and they spoke with him. I know that through the power of God, The Book of Mormon was translated. The Book of Mormon always teaches me new things and it helps me learn more about my Savior.

I know this is The Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. He is literally the head of this Church. I know these things to be true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Monday, December 7, 2015

It Is Noble, It Is Godly, and It Is God's Will

Oh my goodness!!!! Its been a GREAT week!!!! Ok I will tell you the most exciting thing first!

So we have been working with a less active in our ward. She is 24 years old and usually comes to church with her mom and she just recently decided to come back. There was one night that we didn't know what to plan for so we decided to stop by this particular lady's home (at this point we didn't know who she was.). When we knocked on the door she had just come home from work and she was happy to see us! She invited us in and told us about her job and about her life. She recently decided to stop smoking weed and she told us she wasn't happy anymore with her 'under-the-table' job. The next time we met with her we told her that she has to act in faith and quit her job. We promised her that God would bless her for trying to do what is right and bless her with another job. She said, "I know your right..but I am scared. They need me." She was a manager there and she thought they would be mad at her for quitting. Plus how would she pay for everything? We weren't sure if she was going to do it or not. It was a hard decision because she has to pay rent, car and for school. it didn't seem to be an option to her that because then she wouldn't be making any money. So last night when we went to her house, she was glowing!! She quit her job! She got into a car accident and her car was totaled but she still had a rental car and she has some family that will let her borrow a car until she is able to buy one. Two days after she quit her job, she got hired at another place! She was filled with hope and she was so happy! It was so incredible to see Heavenly Father pick her up when she thought she was falling. I testify that when we follow the commandments and when we follow what God wants us to do, He will be there for us. He will make miracles happen. Sometimes we think we are jumping into water that is 2000 feet deep. But when we take a step forward, we find out it is only ankle deep because Heavenly Father will never let us fall. 

On Monday I was feeling really sick but I rested during p-day so that I would be able to work the 3 hours in the evening. I'm so grateful I did because we talked to this lady getting out of her car. Her name is Cheryl and we asked if we could say a prayer with her. She said yes and invited us to come inside of her house so that we could meet her mother who has cancer. She wanted to pray for her mom, Natalie. So we did and we set up another time that we could come back and share a lesson. When we went back we met Cheryl's sister Marlo. When she opened the door she looked confused but when she saw who we were she was really happy! She said, "Oh!! Missionaries!! Come inside!!" We don't get that reaction very often so it made us pretty happy. She told us how she used to meet with missionaries 10 + years ago and then she moved so they lost contact. We taught them about the plan that God has for them and they both said they would be baptized. It was a huge miracle and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father leads and guides us so that we can find those who not only need, but want the Gospel in their lives. 

I know that being a member of the church is not very easy. Its not easy to go to 3 hours of church every Sunday. Its not easy to take time out of our busy schedules to drop off dinner at someone's house or give someone a ride to church. But I know that it is noble, it is godly, and it is the will of God to do those things. It wasn't easy for Jesus Christ to suffer for each of our sins and feel all the pain and suffering of this world. But it was noble, it was godly and it was the will of God. I love my savior Jesus Christ and I love my Heavenly Father. I am grateful to be in the Lord's army as a missionary. I know that He guides this work and I know that this is His Gospel. It changes other peoples lives and it has surely changed mine.

 
I love you guys!! :) See you all soon!!




Some pictures:
Some of the sisters in the mission at the temple
Sister Beaudette and I at the temple this morning
Sister Beaudette and I at the diner, sitting in a cool car booth
Sister Beadette, Sister Cochron and helping for a big thanksgiving dinner



Monday, November 30, 2015

When We Do Our Best, Our Best Improves


Hello friends and family,

 I woke up yesterday with body aches everywhere! I basically slept for 24 hours. I'm feeling a little weak but I am hoping and praying I will be able to work without interruption for the next 3 weeks. 

 I would like to share a few highlights from my week!

 On Tuesday, I was praying and I was thanking Heavenly Father for the birds chirping outside. I think there might be a nest close to our window. Three seconds after I said that, a bird ran into the window. hahaha it was funny! I said "no Heavenly Father, I said THANK YOU for the birds, I didn't say I WANT a bird."

 This week we had a member of the Quorum of the 70 come to visit us. His name is Elder Zeballos and he is from Chile. We learned many things that day but what stood out to me the most was when he answered the question "What is our best?" It is toward the end of my mission now and I have asked myself the question, "Did I do my best?" So it was a huge answer to my prayer when he told us this story:

    When Elder Zeballos lived in Chile, he lived close to the ocean on the beach. On the other side of him was a mountain. He didnt want to climb the mountian because it was too hot, but his son insisted that they climb the mountain together. "I'm too busy", said Elder Zeballos. Haha but his son grabbed his planner and found a day that he was going to be home and said, "We will climb the mountian on this day, you wont be busy." Elder Zeballos told him, "Ok, under one condition! We leave at 6:30 am this way we will leave before it gets too hot." They agreed. A few weeks later, Elder Zeballos thinks his son forgot about the arrangement they made, but he didn't. He came into his bedroom and woke him up. They climbed the mountain and when they got tot the top of the mountain they looked over at the beautiful beach on one side. When they turned to look at the other direction, they saw another mountain that they did not see before. They could only see the second mountain after they climbed the first. So it is when we do our best our best is always changing. When we climb to the top of one mountian, we see another mountain to be climbed. But each time we do our best, our best improves. So his son said, "Next week, we climb the second mountain." Haha and they did! It was a cute story. It helped me realize that I have done my best on my mission. But my best will continue to get better, which is what life is all about!

Dennis came to church yesterday! Dennis wants to be Mormon but his wife is a different religion. So after he went to church with his wife,  then came to our church and he loved it!!!! The whole high priest group (basically all the older men in our church) welcomed him! Dennis said he felt very at home. I know that this Gospel is a place for everyone to feel at home!

Sister Beaduette and I gave a talk at Haley's baptism on Saturday. The communication wasnt very clear and I thought I was the only one giving the talk. When we looked at the program it said "Sister Missionaries." Sister Beaudette was horrified! hahaha she is so shy...but she did really good! We talked about how the invitation to be baptized is like the invitation to become a princess and live with God again someday. 

The other night we hadn't found any new investigators in a while and we had an hour left until we needed to go inside. Sister Beaudette and I tried to pray very sincerely that we would be able to find someone to teach before we had to go in. We were walking and we met a lady named Tarran, she listened to us, took a Book of Mormon and invited us back! I am never surprised anymore to see those miracles and prayers answered, Heavenly Father hears us and He answers our prayers!

I know that Heavenly Father loves us. I know that Jesus Christ can strengthen us when we need it. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ, the one that He is the head of. I know that God loves us so much that he guides us through personal revelation and also through His Prophets and Apostles on the earth today. I love the Gospel with all my heart!

I love you all and I will see you shortly!!!

Monday, November 23, 2015

"I have gained experiences, and spiritual knowledge that tells me this is the true church of Jesus Christ"

Hello! many people have been asking when I come home. December 15th is the exact date. 

We have a very fruitful week:) We found 5 new investigators! We taught a less active lady named Betty on Tuesday and all of her house mates joined us. All the ladies in the home have mental disabilities, like mild retardation I think. We went and taught them a lesson by playing Jenga. They loved it and usually we only see Betty but this week they all joined us! It was a really fun lesson:) They all got really loud when the Jenga would fall over. Haha. They were able to learn some basic principles about God, Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the Gospel.

When we taught Karen this week, we brought a member of our congregation with us. It turns out that when Karen was going through a really hard time with some deaths in the family, she had a grief counselor.This was about 15 years ago. It turns out that the lady we brought was her grief counselor! So they clicked right away and it helped me to realize again that Heavenly Father loves us and He knows exactly what we need. Karen was also able to make it to church yesterday:) 

A family we had dinner with on Wednesday gave us some extra cookies. We wanted to keep them but we knew we shouldn't keep a plate of cookies all to ourselves and we prayed about who we should take them to. We thought of a less active in our ward who we stopped by often but he was never home. When we went by, he was there and he was grateful for the cookies.Wwe were able to teach him and give him a moment of peace in his stressful life. He takes care of his wife who has really bad MS, it was a really great experience. 

I got my last set of "trunky papers" this week. Those include a piece of paper to write down my goals, and a piece of paper to write down my most spiritual experience on my mission. I wanted to share with you what I put for my experience.

It was about halfway through my mission and I had just moved from Cypess to Huntington Beach. If you don't remember, I was in the same ward for 9 months and it was really hard to leave. When I got to my new ward, everything was in disarray. Nothing was the way I wanted it to be. Not only that but it is one of the more wealthy parts of the Long Beach Mission which means that the work was very difficult. We talked to everyone on the streets but got rejected most of the time. They would say "I have my Lamborghini, I don't need God." haha just kidding, they never said that. Anyways, I started to have doubts, concerns and questions. I didn't know what I thought to be true anymore. So I did a lot of praying, studying, and soul searching. We had only one investigator left and we went to his house for a lesson with a member from our church. I could tell the lesson was going downhill and that he was going to tell us that he wasn't interested and didn't want us to come back anymore. In desperation I opened up my Book of Mormon to the third chapter of Nephi when Jesus Christ comes and visits the Americas. Usually as missionaries, we stop every couple versus to discuss what it is saying but I just kept reading almost the whole chapter from beginning to finish. With tears streaming down my face I felt in my heart at that moment that I knew the Book of Mormon was true. I wanted so badly for him to know it too. Sadly, he still ended up telling us that he wasn't interested. But I am grateful for that lesson because I needed it. I needed to feel the confirmation from the Holy Ghost which testifies of all truth. I can testify to you that I know that Book of Mormon is true. I have gained experiences, and spiritual knowledge that tells me this is the true church of Jesus Christ. 

Well I love you guys, I hope your finding joy in every stage of your life and I hope you are looking to good in all you do.

 

Love, Sister Miller

This was a picture of us and the Elders in our ward on Halloween!








No Unclean Thing May Enter Into God's Presence

Oh boy, I just don't know what to write about today!! This week there were really good things that happened but there was a lot of unraveling of things too. 

I guess I will tell you about the big revelation I had this morning that was really cool!! You might not think its cool but I thought it was! We have a lot of people we teach, nonmembers and less actives that just don't make it to church! So this morning I was thinking about the Sacrament and how to help people understand what the Sacrament is. For those of you who don't know, the Sacrament is the bread and water that we take each Sunday. It represents the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We take it to renew our promise we made when we were baptized to basically live a Christ-centered life. Then Heavenly Father promises us that each time we take the Sacrament we can be cleansed of our sins and have the Holy Ghost with us. Like the scripture says, "The spirit doesn't dwell in unholy places." So we need to be cleansed in order to have the Spirit with us. Anyways, as I was studying this morning I realized that every scripture that says "baptism" can be replaced with "sacramant" because It is basically the same thing. Each time we take the Sacrament it is as if we are being baptized again. so that solves the problem when people ask, "Why do I need to go to church, I already believe in God." Because we need to be cleansed of our sins in order to be prepared to meet God!! That is one of many reasons why we need to go to church. Here is an example: 

And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of 
Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into 
the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s 
burdens, that they may be light;

 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those 
that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and 
in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be 
redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye 
may have eternal life—

 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you 
against taking the sacrament in the name of the Lord, as a witness 
before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, 
that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his 
Spirit more abundantly upon you?

So basically the scripture is saying, if you want to follow Christ then why don't you take the Sacrament??? So that was my big revelation I had today. :)
 
We met this guy named Dennis this week, he is awesome!! And he knows everything about his family history. That is so unusual for people that aren't members of our church! He can talk and talk forever, he also teaches science and history. We call him grand-pa. He is pretty great, I hope he lets us to continue to come over.
Other stuff this week. I taught sister Beaudette how to pump gas and this week was the first week she did it by herself! While she was pumping the gas she was thinking, "What would happen if the car blew up." Then the gas was done and it clicked, she jumped like a foot in the air because it scared her hahaha it was so funny!!
 I cant remember if I told you but we teach a recent convert at Jack in the Box. We are regulars there now! I am also friends with the most famous homeless person in Long Beach, his name is Jerry. Last week he gave me a can of pears for Halloween and this week he gave me a brand new knitted blanket. I told him that I didn't want to take it from him but he insists ever time so I don't know what else to do but take it. haha!He is famous because he carries a cart around town with all of his belongings, so he is know as Jerry the cart man, and he is my friend. Haha!
 
Ok well I love you all, I hope you have a good week!!

Do Something That Will Bring You Closer to Jesus Christ

We had a really great week, here's a preview...

There is a homeless lady that goes through the dumpsters looking for plastic bottles around our apartment. So now instead of using our water bottles, we busy plastic ones so we can give them to her. It makes her very happy when we give her our plastic bottles:) This week we gave her cookies too! We are good friends although we cant understand each other very well, she is originally from somewhere outside of the country.

Another homeless man we are friends with is named Jerry. He pulls around everything he owns on a cart. We walk the same streets so we talk to him often, he is a really sweet old man:)

Some of you may be wondering what I am going to do when I get home. Im really not sure yet! I am going to wait and see what doors of opportunity present themselves when I get home. Ive thought about joining the Air Force, going to UCCS, BYU, online degrees etc... but I don't have a definite answer for you.

This week we did service with the Temple Baptist Church. The pastor and his wife are the nicest people! We helped assemble backpacks for elementary school kids and high school kids. Altogether 209 backpacks were made:) There is something really special about working side by side with another church, it feels right, we should all work together and love each other!

One of my favorite parts of this week was doing Family Home Evening with the Frederick's. So the Frederick family is related to some people that I used to teach in Huntington Beach and when I came here they heard about me and we got along right away! They are a young family and their mother just moved in with them, her name is Carry. She seems so prepared to hear the lessons so I am really excited to teach her!!

When we got to this area we were starting from scratch. We had no one to work with! Now we have a little over 10 investigators and 6 less actives we meet with weekly. We also have found a lot of part member families to work with. Its been really awesome to see the area grow! I learned that it comes a little bit at a time. It doesn't come over night so we just need to be patient and have faith. Then you will look at the changes that happened and see God's hand in everything. I will apply that lesson for the rest of my life, we need to be patient and everything will work out. Even if you don't see the blessing day to day, when you look back you will see them:)

If you asked me the reason why I came on a mission before I came I would have said, "Because I know that I can be closer to Jesus Christ than any other time in my life." This is so true, I do feel like I am closer to him than ever before! But I also learned that I can keep that feeling with me always not just on my mission. It comes through prayer, through scripture study, and through going to church. It comes through sharing the Gospel with others and serving people. We don't need to be on a mission to do those things! So I invite everyone who reads this email to do something that will bring you closer to your Savior! I only ask you because I love you and I know the happiness it will bring you. 

One thing you can do is simply to watch this video of our Prophets testimony of Christ. I just watched it a few minutes ago and I loved it:)

 
https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/president-monson-testifies-of-jesus-christ?cid=HP_TH_10-22-2015_dOCS_fPROP_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

 Ok well I love you all!! Have a great week

Monday, October 19, 2015

To Be Others-Oriented


Hello everyone!!

My week was good! Some highlights,

We knocked on this door and this girl opens and she is SO excited to see us! It was so cute. She is 16 and she plays volleyball. I guess the missionaries before us used to go "hang out" over there. She let us teach her the first lesson. The Spirit was really strong and she is really prepared! Im really excited about her, we are going to see her tonight!

On Saturday was Arge's baptism, it was a glimpse of heaven! Heavenly Father gives us glimpses of heaven on our missions. Friday to Saturday, we were on exchanges, so I was actually with Sister P (remember, I trained her last year!) So it was really fun to be with her again! We drove to the baptism in Huntington Beach at 9am. We got there at the same time as Arge, I ran up to greet her. Some of her family came that arent members of the church which was really cool! I gave the talk on baptism. I wasn't as prepared as Id like to be due to a crazy busy week, but I prayed really hard before and I think it went ok! Then her brother, who is also a member, was able to baptize her, it was just so cool, I cant even explain it! I forgot my camera today but next week I will send pictures:) When someone decides to be baptized, the world gets a little better:)

My Mission President is really big on making a vision for our mission. My vision used to be "to be physically, spiritually, and mentally swoll by the end of my mission." But about 4 months ago my vision changed, now it is "to be others-oriented." I dont think I can totally achieve that before the end of my mission but it is more of a life-time vision. I know that when we think of others more than ourselves, we become happier. We find ourselves because there is more of us to find and Jesus Christ teaches us after He washes His disciple's feet, in the book of John he says, "After ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." This may be one of my favorite scriptures! Not long after Jesus Christ said those words, He did the most self-less thing anyone could ever do. Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins, pains, sicknesses, and feelings of all the World. Jesus Christ descended below all things so that He can comfort us when we need it. He descended below all things so that we can live in joy for all eternity instead of misery. Jesus Christ descended below all things because He loves us and I know this is His church because I come closer to Him every time I read the Book of Mormon and every time I read the words of our Prophet. Jesus Christ is real and He can give us hope when it seems like there can be no hope. 

Ok well I wish I had more time! I love you all:) 

Pics from Arge's baptism!



Monday, October 5, 2015

I Know The Church Is True!

This week was so much batter than last week!! We found 7 new investigators, all of which I love and adore. I hope they all stick around! We got invited into so many homes this week and it was so nice. Even people on the street didn't reject us like they did last week. Most of them would hear what we had to say. ok..I'm starting to like it here:)

Two nights ago we were knocking on our last door of the night looking for a member of our ward that no one has seen in awhile. But its really dark out and we go to knock. We see something that scurried across the porch. My companion ran away and didn't want to knock...haha... and she thought it was a raccoon or a rat but it was just a possum. So then we decided to knock anyway and I was scared, I thought the possum was going to attack me but it didn't! And this really nice lady came to the door and she sat down with us and wanted to learn more. Unfortunately it was our curfew but miracles really do happen at the end of the night. I have learned to never go in early!

We had many more miracles and great things happen this week. We found 7 new investigators and our area is growing. 

As a whole church we had General Conference this weekend, which was awesome, some things that stood out to me:

"We dont need to be more of anything to start becoming who God wants us to be."

"Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey."

"Direction is more important than speed."

"You are rich when you live happily within your means and have lengthy conversation when you date." haha...

"Investigators learn when they are ready to learn, not when we are ready to teach them."

"The calling of a missionary is about the Lord's work and Heavenly Father's children."

"Ponderize" weekly

"Don't be too ciritical of the barrier, its the only thing keeping you from being devoured"

"Come what may and love it."

"Challenges make us more like our father in heaven."

Those are just a few!! But I actually met the new apostle, Elder Rasband on my mission. I have also met Elder Maynie and Elder Cook. :) super cool. 

I know that this church is TRUE. I love the gospel. I know that these apostles are called of God and so is our prophet, Thomas S Monson. I know it because I can feel it when they speak. i know they are speaking the words of Christ. They make me want to be batter. They are trying to help us be happy and those are the words Christ would speak if He was here.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Monday, September 28, 2015

Trust God and Trust in Good Things to Come


My week has been filled with roses and thorns, lets take a look.

My first day in Long Beach was on Tuesday. I left my beautiful area of Huntington Beach where I had complete paradise to Long  Beach where I didn't know anything. I got a new car, a phone with no contacts, a new companion straight off the plane and a completely empty apartment with not even toilet paper, and no air conditioning. haha. We got completely lost on the way home. We went way past curfew. I found out Sister Beaudette and I have the same weaknesses. Directions and our memory. Oh man... it was a crazy day! We went and worked in the evening and we were able to teach 2 lessons to less actives in our ward. So that was good:) When we got home, we were both exhausted. We carry all our luggage up to our apartment and we planned for the next day sitting on the ground because we didnt have desks or chairs yet. So that was our first day. It was awful to be honest haha but the blessing was that a member gave us toilet paper and cookie butter. I dont think I could have survived without that cookie butter!

Then the next day we woke up super tired because it was SO HOT. Way too hot to sleep without a fan. So you can already guess how I was feeling that day. CRANKY. The "rose" was we got to buy all new stuff for our nice new apartment :) The "thorn" was that we only did missionary work for like an hour total because it took so long to get everything situated. We thought we could go out and work but then our manager gave us the wrong key and the list goes on and on. We just had errands done that day. 

Day 3 in Long Beach, our alarm doesnt go off. (Worst trainer ever!!) Because we have a new phone and I accidently didn't put the alarm on "daily." But the best part about the day was that the manager to our apartment complex is an inactive member that grew up in the church. She took it as a sign that we moved in and she wants to come back to church!! So we had a really powerful lesson with her. That was pretty great:)

Day 4 was uneventful, we just got rejected a ton. I have never had so many people NOT take a picture of Jesus Christ before. But this was the day we got air conditioning! So that made me SUPER happy. 

Day 5 we go to our first appointment at 11 o clock, so after studies. We get there and the lady seemed totally normal the night before. but we knock on the door and she is completely frantic and she says "an earthquake is happening I have to go!!!!" ..........but there was no earthquake........... so we were like "uhhhhhhh ok..." Ive never had anyone reject me with that one before! 

Then the next guy we talk to was an existential atheist. I dont even know what that means but in the middle of our conversation he says "Thank God we live in a free country." hahaha.... I was like... didn't you just say you were atheist?? Long Beach people are crazy.

Then we got completely yelled at by this guy because he wanted to talk to us but we wouldn't go inside his house. He was the only one home so we arent allowed to. He was super offended but oh well. He should know its not good for 2 young ladies to be in his house when no one else is there anyways!

Day 6 was a beautiful day:) people were nice to us and wanted to talk to us. We didn't find any new investigators but we did get to teach a really great lesson to a girl named Kaitlyn. She was baptized when she was 12. She was telling us that she wants to focus on figuring out who she is instead of going to church. We told her that she will find out who she is when she starts coming to church. We told her its where she belongs because she is a daughter of God. It was really really cool. :) I know Heavenly Father answered my prayer because right before that I just begged Him that we would be able to teach and help someone, then Kaitlyn let us talk to her. I know when we have the faith to ask, Heavenly Father will grant us blessings.

I know that when we have hard weeks, and we get through them it qualifies us to help others when they have hard times. It strengthens our faith when we see our prayers be answered and i am now very grateful when someone accepts a picture of Christ when before,I must have been taking that for granted. 

My companion is one of the most positive people I know. She is my saving grace. She doesn't get discouraged.she just keeps working hard. One night I was just "done." and she was like "maybe we should sing hymns?" haha and I was like "no." but she keeps trying anyways. 

Did you guys see the eclipse yesterday? It was pretty cool. It didn't turn red though from what we could see. 

Oh and we are the first Sisters to live in the "bro zone." That means we live outside of our boundries and we live where only Elders can serve (cuz its ghetto). We feel pretty cool. First Sisters to make it there! Don't worry mom and dad, its safe! 

"Trust God and Trust in good things to come." 

I hope you all have a great week:) 

My Last 12 Weeks

Hey everyone!! I dont have much to say. The transfer has come to an end! I am moving tomorrow to Long Beach! I will be in the Woodruff Ward and I am whitewash trunky training! That means that I will be training a new missionary in a new area for my last 12 weeks. 

I am forever grateful for my companion Sister Miller. She taught me how to be more organized and how to LOVE working hard. My whole life Ii had the attitude "I cant wait until everything is complete so I can just chill and not stress." But now I have the attitude "I dont want to run out of things to do or I will for sure be bored!" haha. So I am grateful for her. She is one of the hardest working people, and she is one of the happiest people. We spend most of our days laughing together. Its pretty great! Im going to miss her a lot. 

We set 2 more baptismal dates this week! So there are 4 total. It was really cool, we taught the lesson at a member's house and they taught a lot of the lesson. I learned so much! For one, we believe in the great apostasy which occurred right when the Bible stopped being written. Why did Revelation stop? Because we didn't have the Priesthood authority. Makes sense. Probably some of you dont know what that means.. just ask a Mormon. haha

I am sure I will have more to report next week:) I love you guys!! Here's some pictures:)

First pic, Sister Mathey, an elderly lady we visit every week. She always says "want me to push you in the pool" in her Indonesian accent:) so cute

My recent convert Melissa and I, she took us out for one of my last dinners in Huntington Beach!

Mine and Sister Miller's matching shirts!

All the senior STL's and new STL's that got called. 

Me with Tina, she is so so fun, she comes to lessons with us all the time. We just laugh and laugh, she is awesome.

The Miller Trio. Sara Miller got called to the Idaho Falls Mission. She would always come to lessons with us too. I let her wear my nametag for the pic:)










Its the Day to Day Little Miracles

So much happened this week! We were able to meet the Standard of Excellence which is really cool. We were super blessed. 

The first experience I wanted to share happened on Friday. We went to visit a former investigator, we talked to him about a month ago. We ran into him right as he was heading off to work and he also has a rather sporadic schedule. He knew it wasn't a coincidence, se are going to see him tomorrow morning. He loves the church, his only concern is why we don't use wine when we take the sacrament. One would think that would be easy to get over, but not for him.

We taught a less active family this week that was very offended by their bishop at church and some other members. They completely opened up about everything. I understood their concern and without wanting to offend them, I tried to tell them coming to church is not a matter of the people around you but your relationship with God.  You don't want to stand in front of God at the last day and tell Him the reason you never went to church to partake of the Sacrament, which is the most important thing we do each week, because you were offended by someone. But I know it is hard. I have also been offended before, but people just aren't perfect!

Our mission president came to a lesson with our investigator Chuck, he asks tons of questions!! So it was interesting, I learned SO much during that lesson. He said there are 3 Christian churches in the world. 1. Catholic Church 2. Protestant Church and 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I thought that was an interesting way to look at it!

Lastly, I wanted to share our 15 miracle day (yesterday):
1. Sara Miller (our Miller trio) she leaves on her mission in October so she came out with us!
2. Our investigator Lindsey was home and we invited her mom to be baptized, she accepted!
3. Ramses (a potential investigator) invited us into his home for a lesson for the first time. He is Greek Orthodox. We also invited him to be baptized, he said when he knows it is true, he will be.
4. The Molens in our ward left lunch in the fridge for us to eat at the church.
5. Argie (our investigator) came to church!
6. Argie accepted a day to be baptized! October 10th!!
7. Sister French (less active) came to church!
8. Argie got a beautiful Priesthood blessing of healing after church.
9. We left dinner a bit early to pick up Tina (recent convert) who came to a lessons with us. 
10. Tina bore powerful testimony in our lesson with Carry. Carry's daughter is dating a Mormon boy about to leave on his mission. We invited her to be baptized. She is coming to the Relief Society Activity tomorrow night and we will teach her more!
11. We randomly met this guy named Saul who the elders referred to us. We walked past him on the street, I said, "Hey are you Saul?" and he was like "Ya.." haha it was funny. But then we were able to sing to him and teach him. He accepted to be baptized November 7th.
12. We taught Tina before we dropped her off at home.
13. Taught Kim (recent convert).
14. I forgot to mention that the copy machine hasn't been working forever and it was working again!
15. We met all our goals for the day and met the Standard of Excellence for the week!

There was a guy last week that talks to us sometimes, he lives with Tina. He said "What do you guys do all day? chill?" hahahahaha I showed him our planner. We always have people to see, places to go, people who want to learn. Its the best:)

I stinkin love Sister Miller, we made matching shirts today with our names on the back! We are such a good team!

Thats my week, love you all!


The Spirit Helps Us Feel God's Love

So this week I taught the coolest lesson of my whole mission!! Ahhhhh it's such a cool story I wish I could just tell you all in person instead of writing it all out! Ok so it started on Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Sister Glenn. We had a lesson and we were bringing a member with us. Well, the member got lost on the way there so we were waiting for her to show up. While we were waiting, we talked to everyone we could see. Then this young man walks past us and so we weren't sure how old he was (we couldn't tell what age he was!) Well we stopped and talked to him and we gave him a card with Jesus Christ on it. He told us that he doesn't believe in Jesus Christ or God! So we asked him why, he said that he doesn't believe in miracles and doesn't understand why there is so much evil in the world. We were getting ready to show him the video "Hope of God's Light" when our phone started ringing because our member showed up. SO I asked him if he would watch the video and we set up another time to see him. Then a few days later we went to his house, his parents answered the door and we ask for Calvin, they said he wasn't home (lies!). Then Calvin came from the back of the house and told his parents, "Don't worry about it." So we ended up teaching him in his garage, in the shade because it was really hot outside. He said that he watched the video and that it opened his mind a little bit. (Score!) haha SO THEN we started talking about his concerns and why he doesn't believe in God. We testified to him that God is real and loves him very much. We explained to him that the reason there is wickedness in the world is because God gave us the ability to choose (also called, agency). We wouldn't be able to choose if there wasn't a good and bad to choose from. While we were talking we mentioned that God has a higher purpose for him. He was curious and asked us what that higher purpose was. So then we sang to him with Sister Millers ukulele about the plan that God has for us. He said he felt the same way he used to feel when he was 16 and went to church and they would sing! Obviously it was the Spirit testifying to him that what we were sharing was true!!! It was the coolest thing ever!!!!! By the end of the lesson he was ready to come to church, and he believed in God. I am so grateful for this experience. It truly is the Spirit that helps us feel God's love. I love the Gospel, I know it is true. :)
Second miracle, was that we fasted on Sunday for all of our investigators because they are nit-picking everything and ignoring that they already know that its true. So we fasted and prayed for them. Then, just yesterday, one of our investigators had a really neat spiritual experience and she is totally ready to get baptized!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!
I am so grateful for my mission and seeing peoples lives change. I love this area, we have found TONS of people to teach. We taught 28 lessons last week. Its doubled in the past 4 weeks! Sister Miller and I work really well together and I am just so happy! Its almost too good to be true.
I love you all!!!

Oh my gosh, funny story. Sister Miller (not me) wanted to go the pool in our apartment complex because we didn't have a dinner. hahaha we looked so funny. We had oreos for dinner (probably why I  am gaining weight but whatever) haha it was fun:) 

Pictures, at the temple with Sister Miller (That was today btw) and then a picture of the biggest moth ever!!!!!!!





"Thank You."

This week was exhausting!! But so so good! We found 5 new investigators and we had 2 exchanges! We also had a lot of meetings!
I just really want to tell you about our investigators but I dont want to be creepy and put their personal info online haha. But oh my gosh, Heavenly Father is really blessing me with the ability to LOVE these people. I am so grateful. I love our investigators (we have like 15!) and I love this ward! I also love my companion, Sister Miller, so I am very grateful for this time On my mission for sure! We have this one investigator that asks us TONS of questions! We would get so off topic, I had to start making a list while we teach him. 
I never knew before my mission that I can be good friends with so many people! No matter their physical appearance, wealth, education, religion, or ethnicity, just so many people that I get along with and am able to love! Its exciting!! 

My most spiritual moment this week was at MLC (Mission Leadership Training) toward the end of our training President Tew quoted a scripture. We believe that whether it is the voice of God or of His servants, it is the same. So he told us to imagine Heavenly Father saying this to us.
"Thank you."
To picture my Heavenly Father saying that to me for all the work that I do in His name was overwhelming. Then we sang the song "How Great Thou Art". It was so powerful. That is truly how I feel about Jesus Christ. I couldn't hold in my tears, the Spirit was just so strong! 

Ok well we went to the mall today and we spent too much time looking! So I don't have much time. But I hope you all have a lovely week!

Twins!

Jesus Christ is the Best Teacher

Its been a really crazy week!! Like really crazy!!! But I dont want to get into all the details!

I got my first set of trunky papers:( That means they need to buy my plane ticket for home. I cried a little but then my companion made me laugh. 
One of our investigators is so so nice, she wants to feed us everytime we go over there! But we go over at 6 pm and our dinner is from 5 to 6, where we have already been fed. So we have had double dinners 4 times this week. We need to tell her!! Im gaining weight!

We have had a goal this week to invite someone to be baptized everyday. It has brought a lot of miracles! We invited one of our investigators to be baptized the first lesson and now he has a date set for September 26th! Then we saw him again Sunday morning and we were able to teach his roommate who then came to church!! It was so cool:) He basically taught US the whole Plan of Salvation just from studying the Bible. He considers himself  "A ollower of Jesus Christ" but he has all of our same beliefs. We were like "your already Mormon!!" 
Funny story, we were done planning and we heard someone knock on the door. It was after 10 at night so we were a little scared, but we answered it..... and it was the pizza guy! haha. It was the wrong house. 

We have this other investigator that is so awesome, he has a radio show called "Deep Thoughts" so he asks really deep questions!! His mind thinks in a different way and it is so fun to teach him. 
I just love our investigators right now!

On a more spiritual note.. this week I have been studying the scripture Matt. 11:28-30

28 aCome unto me, all ye that blabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you crest.
 29 Take my ayoke upon you, and blearn of me; for I amcmeek and dlowly in eheart: and ye shall find frest unto your souls.
 30 For my yoke is aeasy, and my burden is light
this may seem random but think for a moment what it would be like to be invited to the white house to speak with the president of the united states. or you had a friend of taylor swift come over and tell you that you are personally invited to go to her house to hang out with her in a small gorup. ok maybe neither of these appeal to you but the point is that when you are "invited" to go somewhere with someone you think is important, it feels good. in this scripture Jesus Christ is inviting us to "come."

Jesus Christ is inviting us to drop what we are doing and follow Him. Then He promises us that it will be easier and happier. He is the best teacher. I try to emulate His example as I teach and talk to people.

This made me really happy, we had our first exchange of the transfer this week and Sister A told me that I was her favorite STL:) That was so so nice. She told me that Im really spiritual and she always looks forward to our exchanges. I dont think that I am really spiritual but I want to be! So that made me really happy.

I will also share a few secrets of the universe I learned from President Tew this week. 1. We need to see opportunity when there is not opportunity, try to find the best in every situation. 2. When we do something more, we get better at it, dont give up. 3. Nothing succeeds like success, when you are successful, it brings more success.
I feel like I am coming home really soon. December 15th in case anyone forgot. yikes! Ok I love you all, have a good week!

This is Sister Miller, we went to get shaved ice at Bahama Bucks and they had a photo booth!!