Some Stories...About a Missionary!

Ok I have to write this quick but I want to share some miracles for the week and also some funny stories!!!!

1. We skipped dinner one day because we needed more time to teach and find people! So we go to Jim's house, an 87 year old investigator, and hes like,"I was born a Lutheran, I am going to die a Lutheran." But we taught him about the Plan of Happiness that God has for us. (The first time he met us he said we could only come over once a month.) We explained to him what happens after we die and we used some scriptures from the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson we offered to give him a Book of Mormon and he was like,"I'm going to have to decline....actually.....I'll take it.. I'll read it. Then he said we could come back in a week:) He's so cute and he has the coolest house!

2. We have been taking cold showers for a week straight!!!! I feel like Im getting the 3rd world country missionary experience.. aside from the brand new car I drive everywhere haha..perks to being in the states for a mission!

3. I did 16 hours of service this week! It was like heaven, my favorite part about the mission is service! We go visit all of these old people and sick people, then we worked the face painting booth at a fair.. we helped with a garage sale, we helped a sister in our ward move out.. it was great! We are only supposed to do 10 hours of service a week but I went on exchanges which means I went to a different area and I didn't have a choice! So it was fun:)

4. There's a new family in our ward and they are a young couple. We went to their home last night for dinner and both of them are return missionaries! It was so fun talking to them and then she gave us a bunch of her clothes she was getting rid of! It was awesome:)

5. So we were having a hard time finding people who wanted to learn about the Gospel...we were visiting some people who said we could come back but we weren't having any luck! So we said.. "That's it! Next person we see is going to be a new investigator!" Then we prayed to Heavenly Father to help us. So we go up to this house and we here a women yelling.. then a man comes to the door and looks through the window and doesn't open the door.. then the lady comes to the door and she looked at us like we were crazy. So we started talking to her and told her who we were. We found out her uncle and grandma are mormon. We gave her a spanish Book of Mormon and told her about how it will help strengthen her family. She wanted us to come back next week! So, Heavenly Father totally answered our prayer and it was so cool and I just know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers. He is in all the details of our lives!

6. So we accidently drove down a dark alley (in our car) and we were freaked out and then this huge dog comes out from behind a dumpster and my companion and I both screamed, it was super funny!!

Love you guys!

Dreams Come True!

Elder Winder drew these for me. I never thought Id be a Sister Missionary.. on a bike preaching the Gospel... lol ...and lastly, just a pretty tree we thought would make for a quick photoshoot! 

So Many Investigators!!

This week has been really great. I've been so blessed. I was asked to give a training in Missionary Leadership Training (MLC) with Sister Anderson. I was asked on Tuesday and we gave it Thursday. I was so so scared and I felt very inadequate to give it but went pretty well! Our topic was "Using Members with Boldness". I was also asked to give a talk in Sacrament  Meeting on Sunday. That talk went really well Imthought, thanks to Heavenly Father. Then this week I am giving another training in Zone Conference. Lots of opportunity to grow!

Also, we found 3 new investigators this week! Which is awesome because I'm not that good at finding new investigators! Webare getting better!

Some of the people we are teaching....

David Heaton- a less active and he knows he needs to come to church but he hasn't yet! Stinker!

The Matney's- a part-member family/ investigators. I thought they hated me because I asked them to read the Book of Mormon and they were offended. Turns out they don't hate me! We left some cute things on their door and thats all it took to gain their love back! Now we just read from the Bible.

Bro McNeely- investigator. I guess he was talking to himself in the parking lot at church... so we're a little concerned he may not have all his marbles, if you know but i mean. But he's pretty great. I like him. He reads, prays and goes to church! So hopefully he will know it is true soon!

Javier- investigator. He's only 14 and he has read 10 chapters in the Book of Mormon!! He's so awesome and loves when we come over! But we teach him with his brothers who are young single adult age. So web might have to give them to the young single adult missionaries. bummer.

Chris- an investigator. He almost got baptized when he was 12! But his parents told him no, he is 30 now. Webthink he will get baptized. Hensaid he is going to read the Book of Mormon and look into Joseph Smith!! yay!

Paul- less active/recent convert. He talks so quiet.. we just guess what he is saying most of the time. but he is very nice. He works on Sundays:( we are trying to get him to talk to his manager or take some sort of leap of faith but there is a language barrier.. he's from the Philippians.

Sister Shirts- Sister Shirts is inactive because of health reasons mostly, but she is the one who cant walk and has bad health problems. We teach her every week and I love her so much. Her and I get along really well! She  just tells me about everything. It's so cute.

Colleen- our neighbor who is a new investigator! She is sooo sweet and I'm so excited to teach her the fullness of the Gospel.

Susie- investigator. Her boyfriend is Mormon and she has a kid. She has been going through a lot lately and she is excited to start meeting with us!

Heavenly Father has blessed us with a lot of people to teach!

I'm so so excited for General Conference this weekend!!!! For those who are not LDS.... General Conference is when the Prophet and Apostles speak to the whole church across the World. You should listen so you can know were not crazy:) love you guys!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng

Look for God's Hand

Hey! So on a non-spiritual note, I walked into the mens bathroom today and left a drink on the top of my car. Then yesterday we had dinner with a member who had a toilet that would clean your bottom for you, i was afraid to touch it!  Today we are going to an anatomy museum and I'm really excited!! 

My new companion is sooooo gooood. I love her so much!! We get along really well, we laugh and talk all the time:) I also found out I'm really bad at contacting and finding investigators so it's something I need to work on! When I was with Sister Anderson she would just do it and I'd be her backup. Butttttt now I have to do it because Sister Lindsey isn't good either. But I know we will learn and grow alot with each other! She is 15 months old so she is almost done with her mission! Woah! 

I've learned that I loooove people and I looove doing service, so that's what I spend the most amount of time doing now that I plan out our days. Which is good but we are also supposed to teach people or something.

Some of our Elders did service for an old lady and she gave them 10 bags of oranges, so we took a bad and we have been eating them! They are so good! California oranges straight from the tree. yumm!!! 

This week, my companion and I decided that we were going to look for God's hand in our life everyday. because most days don't go as planned, you can either be upset about it or you can look for the ways it went right, or how God would have had it go. So it's been really good and I've learned that you find what your looking for in life. So if you want to be miserable then look for bad things but if you want to be happy, then look at the good things and thank God for them. Then He will give you more! True story. I have also learned a lot about the scriptures!! I studied today about the Prophet Jeremiah in the Bible and how he lived at the same time as Lehi did in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Soooo cool! The Church is so true! 

Well I love you all! Gotta go!!

This is Sister Lindsey, we played the lipstick game one night after planning... it was super fun and we were being goofy. But thats us!!

Warm Fuzzies:)

Hello peeps(<-- I'm talking like my companion, it happens!)

Soooo transfers, I am staying and my follow up trainer or my dad is Sister Lindsey!! She moves in tomorrow. I've only met her twice and we've never really talked so it'll be great!! She seems really nice:) Funny story for this week: so my companion and I were driving in the car and I've been driving this week so I can get to know our area better. So this guy pulls up beside us and he waved to us. He looked like he was in his 20's, kinda cute but.... I'm a missionary so I didn't think anything of it. But he was waving so I asked Sister Anderson if she knew him. She said,"ya I know him, roll down the window!" So I rolled down the window and we got a better view of this guy and she realized she didn't know him! He was driving with no shirt on and had some weird music playing really loud. Haha! So she was like, "Oh...wait.. I don't know him, I definitely don't know him!" By this time he started talking to us and he was like,"Hey how are you?" And we were like,"Sorry we thought you were someone else." And he was like,"What's your name?" Hahahaha... and then I was like,"SISTER MILLER!" Hahaha and his face was soooooo funny!!!!!!!!! Then he sped up...hahahaha oh my goodness we totally got hit on and it was the funniest thing ever!!!!

Ok so to make this post more spiritual..... I was reading my scriptures this morning and I really liked Luke 12:7, "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." I loved it because it really makes you feel Heavenly Father's love and that we are so special to Him. I know He loves each of us with a perfect love. None of us are fogetten. If nothing else, as a missionary, that is my message to the world. That God lives and He loves each of us. :) So thats my warm fuzzies! I love you guys!!

Since Sister Miller is staying in Cypress here is her address:

Sister Tara Miller

5551 Lime Dr.

Cypress, CA 90630

She loves letters and mail:):) also email!!

Heavenly Father's Tender Mercies

WE MET THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE!! We are the first sisters in our missionto do it!! I was pretty excited!! Heavenly Father blessed us so much! All we did was plan more in advance and then everything worked out! Alright I wanted to tell you guys about this week. It has been awesome.

SO! The other day.. On Wednesday we had a specialized training about asking for referrals. During trainings we usually have to do a practice teach at the end to make sure we can put into action the things we learned. So we were doing this practice teach and the Assisent to the President (AP) came and watched me and my companion. Well...I felt a lot of pressure and my mind drew a blank because I was panicking so badly in my head. I ended up stalling for so long that we ran out of time and I didn't finish teaching. All because he was watching me! I felt so dumb and emberassed. I experienced that feeling before when I was doing my dance solo in college and I forgot it halfway through so I just stood there. Well... I shouldn't do that...lol...normally people improvise or do something but I just sat there in silence like a weirdo! So, I was really hard on myself the whole rest of the day. I cried and I felt awful! When I woke up the next morning I had a flood of emotions and thoughts. Just being a missionary is hard and it makes you hard on yourself. Anyways, I prayed to Heavenly Father. I told Him I can't feel this way because I teach people that through Jesus Christ your burdens can be lifted. I teach people that through Him, if you rely on Him, and trust on Him that He will makes you feel better and lift your burdens. I asked Heavenly Father to make me feel better and He did. Instantly I felt better. This is always a cool experience because you think it only happens to other people but I promise Heavenly Father answers prayers. So that was a really spiritual and tender moment for me.

Then!! We had district meeting that day (more training) and we had ANOTHER practice teach, this was similar to the one I failed to do the day before, the one I freaked out on. I was paired with an Elder who had been struggling. So, I started by talking about prayer and I asked him if he ever had a time in his life where Heavenly Father answered his prayer. He said yes and he continued to tell me a really personal story from his life. He had a very powerful testimony of prayer. Well practice teaches are usually hypothetical senarios but he made it real. I thanked him for sharing his experience and I told him about the one I had that morning. Then, we talked some more and somehow we got to talking about the things he was struggling with. He told me that it is hard for him to talk to people and share the Gospel with them. As missionaries we talk to everyone. We talk to all the people we see on the streets and he struggles with that because well its just hard! He said there was a time on his mission when he could do it but now its hard for him again. I told him that Heavenly Father knows what he is going through. I told him that Heavenly Father knows he is doing his best, and doing his best is a state of his heart not a matter of what he is doing. I told him that if all he can do is say,"hello, how are you?" then that is all he can do and it is good enough. Well this Elder broke down in tears. He told me that is exactly what he needed to hear. The amazing part is I feel like I didn't do anything, I was just telling him some of the things I have learned on my mission. But from this Imlearned that Heavenly Father knew that this Elder and I needed to be partners and He knew that I needed to learn these things on my mission so that I could help him. It had nothing to do with me and everyhting to do with him. I feel like my whole mission led up to that moment. It was soooooo cool and spiritual!!

Another experience I had that day was with a less active lady that we teach. She doesn't come to church because she is mad at God because she is elderly and cannot walk. She hasn't been able to walk for 10 years and she feels like it is a waste of life. She wants to die, she has told us this. But I love this lady so much so I wrote her a peom. I haven't written poetry in awhile but I decided to for her. I wrote :

 

Velda, come sit with me and let me wash your feet, please tell me what you think you need 

Master, Savior, Brother, why did you take away my legs?

Why did you leave me on earth for so long, when I had to sit and sit each day?

I lived a good life, I loved I served, I tried and tried

But then I couldn't walk and I thought I would rather die

Velda, I love you and that love with never change

I left you on Earth for only a short time

I took away your legs but Inblessed you with your mind

Each time you almost died, I gave you life

I was there when you cried

Each time you fell and each time you sighed

I cried, I fell, I sighed as well

But when I tried to hold your hand

I waited at the door for you to let me in

You didn't see that I was there

To comfort to guide, to make your burden thin

Please Velda, don't drift away from Me

I am here. I will wait.

Please be greatful, be humble, be kind

Please try to understand, I have never left your side.

 

When I looked up after reading this to her, she was crying. I knew that Heavenly Father needed me to write this poem for her and that He helped me to write it. It was such a tender experience for me.

 

So with all of these experiences I have learned that Heavenly Father knows each of us and that He puts people in our lives for a reason. He is involved in all aspects of our lives. My final example of this this week is with Brother McNeely. My MissionPresident's Wife came and did studies with us on Tuesday. While we were talking about Brother McNeely she asked us if we ever thought about inviting Him to go to the LA Temple to go to the visitors center. We hadn't thought about it. Then...we went to his lesson with Sister Weick. After we said our prayer and before we saw Brother McNeely, she asked us if we ever thought about taking him to the LA Temple visitors center. So at that point my companion and I were like,"Ok Heavenly Father we get it" :) So then!! We had an aweosme lesson that night about feeling the Spirit. The next lesson we had be brought Sister Nagel. She was baptized 3 years ago and she shared her testimony of how she knew the Church was true. It was perfect for Brother McNeely! She was on her way to the gym and she turned around just so she could come to our lesson. Pure inspiration. Then we had another lesson with him a few days later and we brought Sister Pugeda. She is also a convert and she recieved her answer that she needed to be baptized at the Temple!!!!! So she shared her experience and it was one of the most powerful lessons that I have had on my mission. At the end of the lesson, Sister Anderson and I promised Brother McNeely that he will find his answer at the temple when he goes. He is going with Sister Weick on Tuesday!!! I'm so excited for him to go!!! Then is yet another example that Heavenly Father knows us and knows what we need.

 

This week has been so great! The mission is so awesome and this is truly Heavenly Father's work!

 Love you guys!

1...ok so sister anderson and i designed our own shirts! arent they cool!!

2...sister anderson and i went to the mall today! i felt like a real girl!

3...and finally that is a picture of sister and brother shirts (the one i wrote the poem for)

:) :) :)

The Longer I'm Here, The More I Know The Church Is True

This week!!

Alright, this week was waaaay better than last week which is weird because we had tons of lessons last week and not as many this week but it just goes to show that numbers aren't important!

Story time: so I go to a member's house and she gives me a big hug and a really wet kiss on the cheek. My cheek was wet all of dinner but I didn't want to be mean and wipe off her kiss haha. I feel the love.

This week I learned that there is a lot more to a mission than I ever thought. Yes we are here to teach but Heavenly Father shows you your weaknesses and it is a time where we are completely dependent on the Lord and able to overcome anything. I am speaking mostly for other missionaries (I haven't been through it YET) but woah! The mission brings things out of you that are really deep because Heavenly Father knows you can overcome it! Kind of cool, but it also is what makes the mission so hard.

We had a member give us an entire cheesecake! A whole cheesecake that she made homemade. It was really awesome but I am trying to have self-mastery and show Heavenly Father how much I love him by eating healthy. So I didn't have any. And it was hard!

My companion and I had to go see the Mission President to talk and while we were there he challenged us to be the first sister missionaries to reach the Standard of Excellence Goal, sooooo challenge accepted!! That means 12 member present lessons, 3 new investigators, on time in the morning and at night, and some other things I cant remember off the top of my head. But I'm excited it is going to be a killer week. And by that I mean that we will be able to help a lot of people come closer to Jesus Christ because we are going to work really hard! I'm excited!

We are teaching a guy, Brother McNeely and he is funny. We ask him a question and he takes in a mile from what we asked him so its kind of hard to stay focused but I love him anyway! He has been praying and reading about the Book of Mormon. He also has been coming to church. So thats awesome! He gave up alcohol but he hasn't given up coffee or cigarretts yet. But he is doing so good!

Last week was my very favorite lesson of my whole mission! We had a Family Home Evening with her family and she invited all of her friends and family. It was like a party and we played a game and had a lesson. It was so fun! We laughed and laughed and had a lesson about how the Gospel blesses families. It made me happy:) We love her. When we ask her a question we would be like, "How do you think it would help you to have a second witness of Jesus Christ?" She will pause for a second and then she would say something like "....so you guys can't have instagram?" haha!

Anyways, the longer I am here the more I know the church is true. Im so greatful for the people here. I hope everyhting is good in Colorado and Utah!

I got two packages this week!! One from my mom and also from my friend from the U. Thank you so much!!!!! I will write you all back ASAP! Packages and letters bring me so much joy! I am so lucky to have such good friends an family and I can feel the prayers and faith of the people I love back home. Thank you! Love you all!

A member gave us allllll of these shoes!!!

Wearing my new dress from my mom and showing off my things I got in my packages!!