July 28, 2014

Looks like I get to stay in Midlo!! I'm thrilled! I sure love it here! Sister Hansen is leaving me though. She's going to be a sister training leader somewhere, so that's pretty neat! I've learned so much from her.

 

I can't remember if I told you this or not, but Sister Hansen has been waiting on a visa to go to Brazil for 11 months now. She usually wears an English name tag, but a few weeks ago, she accidentally put her Portuguese one on. We was a member that day, and she said, "Hey, is that Portuguese? The lady who cleans my house is from Brazil!" So sister Hansen got to teach her in Portuguese! It was sweet. Katia, the Brazilian, wasn't super interested in the gospel, but she wanted to help Sis Hansen with her Portuguese, so she agreed to take the lessons! She and her husband came over to the members' for dinner, and Sister Hansen taught the restoration. It was so awesome because even though I couldn't understand, I felt the spirit. And I know Katia felt it too. She started answering the Portuguese questions in English, so we all were able to talk about it together.:) She and her husband both promised to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I won't get to continue teaching them because they live out of our area, but that was a cool experience.

Teaching the gospel is the best. It has been really challenging to find people who want to really learn, but man. When we do, it makes me so happy! We got to teach Denise again this week. She is wonderful. She believes everything, she's just scared of change. Please pray for her to be blessed with courage. :)

 

We also got to teach this super cool guy named James. He's a member of the United Church of Africans or something like that. He just sat us down and asked us every question he had about Mormons. I love when people do this! Because if you sincerely ask what we believe and why we believe it, it kinda makes a whole lot of sense! :) Every person was taught the plan of Salvation before they came to Earth, and I believe that everyone remembers it somewhere deep in their heart. When they hear it, it's like a memory coming back to them. I love seeing that. I love when people realize that they are children of God, and that He loves them and desires their happiness!

Well, that's the scoop! I miss you guys a lot, and I pray for you every day. I love you!

Sister Miller

July 21st Email

Hello Familia!

I hope y'all doing well. I'm emailing so late because we had sisters p-day with all the sistas in our zone today! It was really fun. We went to Belle Island and ate Pizza in Cary Town. :) I love me some Richmond City! Cute cobblestone streets and crazy people and big buildings... makes me happy :)

Transfer calls are this Saturday. Bah! The last month has FLOWN by! We'll see what happens. I'm quite attached to Midlothian, so I know it'll be tough to leave. But whatever happens, I'll be happy. 

It was Sister Hansen's birthday on Wednesday! I made bread pudding to celebrate, so it felt like it was my birthday too! She is such a wonderful companion. I seriously am blown away by her faith. We've come to be such good friends. Every time we know we have to do something hard or awkward or scary, we just start humming "Called to serve." Haha it's sooo cheesey but it works!

We worked really hard this week. We had to drop Carolyn, and that was tough, but I think it was definitely for the best. Even though there weren't any huge miracles this week, there were so many little tender mercies that helped me keep going. I know that Heavenly Father knows us individually. I know we are His children, and I know that "there is not one of us He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us he has not desired to save and devised means to save." The Book of Mormon is such a blessing in my life. I know it can help us with our individual concerns. 

Thank you so much for the CD! Sorry this email is short. I love you all a bunch!

Love, Sister Miller

Pics from Midlo & Richmond

July 14th Letter

Hey ya cute family,

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying a nice week of summer! This week was a little bit of everything for me. It started off with some miracles, so let's start there!

On Monday night when we were planning, we asked the Lord for a miracle the next day at 1:36. God isn't limited by time or human requests, but we knew that if we put forth the effort and had faith in Him, He would provide an opportunity for us to help someone else. By 12:50 that day, our plans and all 3 back-ups had fallen through. So what did we do? Tract! After doing that for 45 minutes, not a person had answered. Then, at precisely 1:36, someone answered! And from that point on, every door on the street was opened. We got 3 return appointments and got to teach the restoration! :) We met this amazing woman named Joanna Bartles. She's an artist and a yoga instructor and just a sweet, good soul. Please pray for her! We get to teach her again this week :)

We went on my first full split on Wednesday! I got to teach Carolyn with a girl named Katie, and her mom took Sister Hansen to teach a lady we met tracting named Julia. She is GOLDEN! She's a 21 year old single mom. She's so humble and just knows she needs the Savior. 

Thursday and Friday were both really slow days, but we got to visit some elderly people and play bingo at Ginter again! Poor Sister Hansen. I love old people, and there's a lot of them in Midlothian, so we visit them a lot! One lady we visit is something of an angel. Her husband is in the dementia unit of a nursing home. He can't even remember her name, but she goes there every day to visit and take care of Him. 

We also got to teach this sweet lady named Denice. Her husband left her for someone else a few years ago, and she is just heartbroken. :( Something I've learned from my mission is that everyone has a story. Every person is going through, or will go through, something really hard. That is why I love the gospel. I don't know what it's like to have a dying husband, to have been cheated on, or to be struggling to support a baby on my own. But I know that Jesus Christ understands. I know that the gospel is for everyone, and no matter the circumstance, it can heal. Everything we teach all comes back to Him. We have the book of Mormon because it testifies of Him. The priesthood is here to bind us to Him. We have prophets to reveal to us His words and the way back to Him. I know that He lives. He can change us. 

Here are some other things I learned this week:

- When we're trying to do the right thing, we can ALWAYS expect opposition. The hardest mornings of my mission have always come just before the best things have happened. 

-Helping people makes us HAPPY :)

Well, this was quite the novel. Oh! As for the Egyptian food experience of the week: boiled eggs surrounded by ground meat and deep fried, pasta with oil and pepper sauce, and some sort of chicken! It was actually super tasty, but I could probably go for 3 days without eating and be fine :I "Complete." ;)

I love you all very very much!

July 7th Letter

Hi family!

I got to see Patty, Curtis, and Brinlee! Oh my word, it was the best thing in the world! I was worried that I would get homesick or distracted after they left, but I wasn't. It just gave me a big boost! They are so sweet.

This week was really good :) Most of the people we've been working with were out of town, but we had a lot of service opportunities. Our ward had a pancake breakfast on the 4th, which was really fun. We made red, white, and blue cookies and took them to people and shared patriotic scriptures with them. It started out as a hard day, I think because I just knew what you all were doing. But as soon as we got to work and started seeing people, I was fine. We ended up helping with Bingo at Ginter Hall and visiting a lot of people who were spending the 4th alone. It really changed my perspective. It made me grateful that I have a family to miss. I love you guys so much, and I just love knowing that we'll always be there for each other. You are my best friends! That friendship is such a gift.

We also had our first official English class.... and no one showed up! Hahah. But it's alright, because the next day we had a great class with Osama (the Egyptian man from the park..Triza's brother) and his 2 kids, Andrew and Stephen. They are the cutest little humans I have ever seen (except sawyer.) We taught them how to make friends haha. They're really smart!

We got to teach the restoration to some guys who were fishing at the park the other day. I just love sharing the gospel. It's the happiest message in the world. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It has brought me closer to my Savior. It clarifies God's plan for us and enriches our personal lives. I love the gospel with all my heart. 

I hope you all have a great week!

A few Pics

June 16th Email

Well this has been the most eventful week of my mission so far, so we'll see how much of it I can jam into an email. Let's go chronologically!

Tuesday:

Carolyn is changing so much. She is loving the book of mormon! She said she believes everything we teach, and she wants to be baptized, but she won't until she reads the whole book. I'm excited for her. Love that sweet lady!

Wednesday:

Sisters meeting! It was a conference with all the sisters in the mission, and it was amazing!

Thursday:

We were walking towards our apartment complex at the end of the day, and just as we were about to go inside, we heard 2  super loud bangs, and the street light went out.  We booked it to the car as fast as we could, thinking they were gun shots. Honestly, I've never been so terrified in my entire life. We found out later that a squirrel had crawled into the transformer on the phone pole and it exploded! Haha!

Friday:

There is this sweet Egyptian family that lives in our apartment complex. (Not Jesseem's fam.) They don't speak very much english, but we always say hi to them. On Friday, they said, "Come here! What church you from?" We told them and they said, "Jesus Christ? We want to come!" They left Egypt 7 months ago because it's not safe (especially for Christians) right now. They left practically everything to come here, and things haven't exactly been easy since they've come. Safwat, the dad, slipped on ice and injured himself, so he can't work. Fady, their son works at Sam's club, and I think that's their main income. They have a sweet 14 year old girl named Kareen, and Susan is the mom. I LOVE them!!

Later that day we played Bingo at Ginter Hall, and this sweet elderly resident told me that he used to burglar for a living. I love those people! Anyways, when we were leaving, it started raining like someone had turned on a shower head. I've never seen so much rain! This chubby black lady had left her windows rolled down, and so she put a grocery bag over her her head and ran out yelling, "Oh Lord! Please say Peace be still!" hahahha I thought I was going to die. 

Saturday:

Teaching the Sheahates family was one of the sweetest experiences I've ever had. Karen had to do some translating, and we had to speak very simply, but the spirit was so strong. Safwat just kept putting his hand on his heart saying, "It feels good." We invited them to be baptized in July, and he said, "Yes. We believe, and we will know. We will be ready." I love that family. They have so much faith. 

We got transfer calls that night... Sister Armstrong is leaving. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty much been a nonstop crying fest since she found out. She's been here 6 months, and it's her fist area.. plus, things just started getting sooo good here! But someone needs her somewhere else, and she will do great wherever. I'm just happy I got her for a little while!

Sunday:

Safwat's family came to church! They loved it! The young women totally took to Kareen, and the ward helped them feel welcome and loved. They  insisted on making us Egyptian food, and that was quite the experience! Susan made an entire roasted chicken, some sort of green soup with pita bread, a pasta casserole thing, salad, and fried potatoes. Everything was good, but they dished us up HUGE servings, and we had just eaten a steak dinner at a member's house!!! She just kept saying. "Eat." We stopped when we couldn't eat anymore, and she said, "You no like it?" We said, "No, it's so good!" and she pointed at the plate and said, "Complete." She did that about 7 more times throughout the meal, and somehow we were able to get a lot of it down. I was sick all night haha! They are soooo so sweet! Just wanted to give us the best they had :)

Then, we were driving to Carolyn's and who do you do you think calls us? A. Hill. The crazy southern lady who gave me a cat book! She dropped us 2 months ago! She said, "Sistah Millah. Ah've been thinkin' it over, and I've changed my mind about it a few times..." (So, of course at this point, my missionary mind is thinking, "Oh my gosh! Her heart has been softened! She wants the gospel!" haha.) But no. She said, "I know a young Christian man who is so kind and is verrrrry pleasant looking...." And proceeded to try and set me up with this random guy from her church! Haha Sister Armstrong almost had to pull over because she was laughing so hard. 

Anyways, sorry about the novel! This week was incredible. I love being a missionary. We are so blessed. Seriously, Heavenly Father has just been so good to us. I love you guys so much. Keep on a keepina keepina keepin it reeal!