And...her letter to her mission president

Dear President Alba,

Thank you so much for all the fun and encouragement that you and your lovely wife gave us the day we arrived. It was much needed and cherished by all of us new greenies, I think.

I have absolutely loved being companions with Sister Zenger! She is amazing! Wow! I don't have a big sister, but I think that she fills that role nicely. She is easy to get along with, so considerate, and she is patient, but she lives on such a high standard that I'm naturally drawn to push myself to be on her level. It's truly amazing, the blessing of a companion. I hope to continue to learn from her wonderful example of obedience and courage. She is so brave. I've been a little afraid of contacting, but she's taught me a lot about that so far.

I'm loving Santa Rosa! Sister Decker has a GPS before she left, and so now Sister Zenger and I are learning to navigate. It's been pretty fun. I know that God has a sense of humor. Let's just leave it at that. But truly, this is a blessed place.

She and I are working hard. I'm looking forward to getting organized. Planning is essential. I know that I need to step it up this week and be a contributor to the companionship. She's worked herself so hard getting things ready. We are seeing many miracles.

We met Dana the first night. She knows that her life isn't where it needs to be. She knows that there is a God, but I think we really helped her to understand that Heavenly Father loves her. We had some pretty cool experiences with her, that touched her heart and I know that she felt the Spirit, and the love of her Savior and her Heavenly Father. I think she was tearing up too. I read my mission scripture to her (1 Nephi 21:14-16) and I think it touched her. She accepted the soft invite to be baptized, and we are going to be teaching her later in the week. She also committed to read from the Book of Mormon this week. She took it willingly. I've been praying that she reads it and feels Heavenly Father's love for her. 

Rhett is going to be baptized soon. He came to church for the first time yesterday. I think he really liked the singles ward. At first he was quiet, but as the day progressed, he opened up and was talking to a lot of members, and even though I didn't hear all of the conversations I watched, and he was smiling a lot at the linger-longer nacho party after. I thought it was cool because in sacrament meeting I got to bear my testimony along with Sister Burgess, and the speakers spoke about missionary work, and also about the nature of the Godhead being three separate being and how we know that through the First Vision and when Jesus Christ was baptized. I thought that Rhett really liked that. SO EXCITED for his baptism. Pray that he can overcome smoking through the Atonement.

Elliott, an agnostic, and his girlfriend/fiance Jessica (a member when she was growing up) came to linger longer. They are extremely friendly, and both have a strong desire to be kind and love others and treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. You can tell that Elliott wants to believe in God, but his brain gets in the way. We taught him the very first point of the Restoration: God is our Loving Heavenly Father. It took an hour. But he has a sincere desire to learn. I learned a lot about the Spirit and testimony from Sister Zenger that lesson. I could feel it every time she bore her testimony with boldness. Jessica could feel it. I don't know if Elliott felt it yet, but you could see that it left an impression on him. He is very open-minded. The real question is this: is Elliott's heart open and sincere? You can tell that Jessica has had a lot of struggles in her life, and a lot of trials, but you can also see in her eyes that she was touched deeply by the lesson we had with them. She asked if we could give them a Book of Mormon even before we really had time to offer it. I had the opportunity to invite Elliott to be baptized. Wow. Never really done that before. He accepted, but expressed that he wouldn't commit to something like that unless he really felt true to it in his heart. He was kind, but I'm praying that he accepts in his heart Moroni's Promise, and experiments upon the word of God.

We also had a miraculous miracle. I later told Sister Zenger that it was probably the best experience I had ever had. It's probably now one of my favorite memories. This was friday night.

I had had a hard day with planning. Wow. Five hours. Didn't know that it was that long. (I'm laughing at myself. All the things I've learned this week. I'm sure you're laughing too!) After planning we went out to give a house blessing to a lady named Carolina that Sister Zenger had met a week or so before. She had said to call her before so she could come down and open the door for us. She didn't answer her phone, so we walked a block or so over and started contacting. Wow. People can be rude. Let's just say that I really felt like a greenie. I heard a lot of things that I've never heard before. No one wanted to listen. I felt quite discouraged. I was wondering why we were even trying, because people not only didn't care, but they were outright rude. 

After a long while, we decided to go back to the car and try something else. Sister Zenger had a prompting to call Carolina again. She answered apologetically, saying that she was just a few mins away. She pulled up with her 8 year old daughter, Elizabeth and led us up to her apartment. She apologized about the mess-- she was just moving in and her kids were getting used to the school, and she was looking for a job-- and then invited us in. We sat down on the clean but empty living room carpet. Before we could jump into the house blessing, she asked us kindly "So what are you going to teach me today?"

Wow.

Carolina expressed her faith in Christ. She is a single mom of three children, trying to find a job. She said that she prays to God for help to relieve the pressure, because she knows that no matter what, she has to be a smiling face for her children. She told us how she prays with her children, and tells them to pray to relieve the pressure and pain that they feel. She has them pray for their Daddy. She says she doesn't know if that's okay, and she doesn't want to bother God, but that she knows that they need to do it.

We taught her about prayer, why we pray, that God hears and answers all of our prayers. I asked her why if He knows everything, does He have us pray? She was tearing up. She didn't know. "He commands us to pray because He loves us and wants to have us not just talk, but to listen to Him also." I replied in a whisper. She felt the spirit testify of that to her heart, and you could see it in her eyes that she willingly believed everything we were saying to her. "The message that we bring is from Your Heavenly Father and your Savior JESUS CHRIST, who hear your prayers, and answer them. The message of the gospel that we are going to teach you, if you choose to listen, will bless your life more than you can imagine."

We introduced the Book of Mormon. She wanted to understand the word "gospel" in English, so we told her the definition. We explained that it is what Jesus taught while he was on the earth, that it is faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. The whole lesson, her eyes were glistening with joy, love, relief of pain, and tears almost ready to fall. 

We told her we would send Spanish Sister to help her understand. She then did something that will forever be engraved in my memory.

Before we could invite her to read the Book of Mormon, she asked timidly "How much do one of those books cost?"

We gave one to her daughter, one to her. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes. You could tell she meant it.

Then startled, she said that she would have to read it first, but only so that she could understand and be true to the commitment of baptism. 

She's Catholic.

Not many Catholics will commit to being baptized like that.

She is so prepared. Wow.

I love her. I've never felt the love of the Savior so strong like that. 

Her daughter asked us to find the scriptures we shared. Wow.

We left, and felt her love for us. Wow.

This week has been amazing. All the horrible contacting is so worth it. Even if it's just putting our eyes in the light to find the elect, and to recognize their faith in the Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you for all you do!

Love the mission!

It's not mine, it's HIS.

Sister Darby Eleyce Miller

Week 3: WOWZA!!! I'M LOVING IT!

So there is so much to write, so little time. So I'm hitting two birds with one stone, and sending you my miracles by sending you the letter I wrote to the President.


The flight was amazing. I sat next to Elder Prince. Everyone else fell asleep. He and I had some good conversations about planes (his dad is a pilot from canada, so naturally I made fun of him, and he made fun of me because I'm american. and I know my grammar is bad. Deal with it :)

We stayed in a hotel the first night. The next day, we got ipads (so cool) and our new trainer/companions. Sister Zenger is awesome. She's from Idaho. Music major. Really patient. Jane Bennett sort of girl, with a hint of Nanny McPhee. It's awesome.


I miss you all. I love you.

I sleep really, really good. And you all thought that I'd have a hard time with that. Nope.

:)

We wake up, run (yes. she's wooping me into shape. It's a mission rule to run for a half an hour in the morning.)

we do the normal schedule of study, and then an extra hour call for the first 12 weeks.

then we go to work!

I'm the navigator. Wow have I learned a lot.

We are in Santa Rosa, in a YSA ward. We are in charge of teaching all the YSA's in Santa Rosa South. Wow. It's a HUGE AREA, but again, we are just the young single adults.

Rhett is going to be baptized. All of our other investigators are brand new. Sister Zenger says that our first week was pretty abnormal. the companionship picked up 6 new investigators this past week. We are working like crazy.

I can only write letters today, but eventually I'll write all of you back :) just know that I think of you, that your efforts don't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

We live in a mission "mansion" a condo that a senior couple had. Everyone else is jealous, but it's going to be a pain to clean today because Sister Zenger hasn't been there for very long.

She's only been in Santa Rosa for one transfer, and she has two more transfers left, so I very well might be the one to "kill" her or send her home. She's also my "mom" or trainer. All the weird terms.

also, it's pretty funny what becomes funny to you when you are a missionary.

Talked to my first "high" person. Didn't even know that he was high. Sister Zenger thought it was pretty funny.


What else...

Oh yes.

THE BOOK OF MORMON IS SO IMPORTANT. READ A LITTLE BIT EVERYDAY.

i'm feeling my relationship with my Heavenly Father strengthen. I wish I could go into detail, but it's been amazing. Although I feel like I've been humbled a lot. I have to keep myself in check.


Elder Allred, it's good to hear from you.

Megan, I love you, keep holding on strong,

Grandma Joyce, I love you and pray for you. Thank you so much for the letter and the lemon bars.


and for you people who sent the greenie packages. You know who you are. If I come home fat, I'm blaming you. Don't you circle the "weight control" on that.... IT'S STILL CHOCOLATE :)

and my roomates say thank you. Sister Heinrichson, trainer of Sister Clawson (who was in my district in the MTC) says thank you. She and I successfully ate ALL the almond joys within the past two days.

Yup.

I'm gonna get fat.

The members feed us almost everynight, but sometimes we feed ourselves. All the food is HIGHLY appreciated by Sister H, C, Z, and myself.



what else?

PICTURES!

COMING NEXT TIME


ALSO, mom I love you,

Darah I love you.

EVERYONE I LOVE YOU! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE, THE BOOK IS BLUE, AND JESUS LOVES YOU!

Week 2: The Love of Our Savior, Jesus Christ

Okay, Please, ALL! 

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE AND READ EVERYONE'S EMAILS!

there's something called dearelder.com... mon is your last day to use it... before noon. 

I really can't read everyone's emails and such... so if you aren't close family, please don't send me a huge email. Small ones are great, but it's too much to write and email is supposed to be mostly for family. :) I'll never turn down a letter though. If you have a lot to say, send it that way.

But I do know you all love me, and now that I'm done being official, thank you :) I love you all too, and it's good to know that you all love me too.

I go to the temple today, and then we have a service project. :) Today is my pday. :)

You blink, and it's over, yet you feel like you've been here a month or more. 

It's crazy. It's messing with my brain.

So basically, we study a lot. Elder Bednar came and spoke to us for a devotional on Tuesday. Pretty cool. I got to sing in the choir and be on camera broadcast. SCARY. We sang "Nearer my God to Thee."

Lots of stuff has happened. I wish I had time to relay all of the events. But I don't have time nor talent to. So I'll say what I really wish to say:

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. Last Sunday we watched the Joseph Smith movie. Wow. I've prayed about the BOM but I realized that even though I know that JS is a prophet, I had never really prayed about that either, so I went home that night and prayed. Wow. Even amidst the confusion of everyone getting read that night, I felt it: deep, intense, and powerful. I can now say that I KNOW that the Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know. 100%. Wow. Just writing that.... Wow.

I also know that our Savior loves us. He has redeemed us. We are no longer held to a law of perfection we have no hope of achieving. We are held to obedience to Jesus Christ. We are called to "Follow thou me" and the promise is not only being saved from eternal torment, but the promise of eternal life.

I'm learned that I'm here to learn to love people. I'm not as good at teaching as I thought, but the real struggle is humility; to listen, apply, and love. Wednesday was the best. Really. We had a lesson that was AMAZING! Wow. The difference is night and day, the way we are supposed to teach, and the way we tend to teach. 

Wow.

Thank you all for what you are doing to help me. :) I love you all. I pray for you. :) Thank you for the patience you've had for me. You all are saints :) My companions are nice too. :) But God knows everything. 

I need to learn to love. I'm learning. 

and it feels so good.

NEXT TIME I EMAIL I WILL BE IN CALI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Love, 

Sister Miller

January 10, 2014 "FIRST WEEK"

Dear Family and Friends,

I only have a short time, so I'll be brief. You know me. Trying to get used to the schedule, but I'm doing really well. I've learned to put essentials first.

 

I have two companions, Sister Day from AZ, and Sister Stuart from Tremontan, UT. They are wonderful. We all love eachother. Having companions is not what I expected. It's a lot more fun! :)  Sister Day (19) is headed to Santa Rosa with me, and Sister Stuart (24) is head to AZ. Also, Sister Stuart's brother is serving in our mission. So neat, all these little connections. The two other Sisters in our district (and room) are Sister Clawson (22), who was on the BYU swimteam, and Sister Hair, whose hair is absolutely exquisite. Sister C is from Colorada, Denver. Sister H is from Alpine, and is 19 yes old.

 

The food is wonderful here. I really don't know what everyone was complaining about. I'm hungry a lot, but that's because it's me and I'm busy, but they give us lots of food, and I think it's pretty good. Not as good as homecooked, but it's good.

 

I love going to bed at 10:30.

Takes me a while to fall asleep, but it's good.

Gym was a blast! Our district's schedule's got mixed up the first full day, and we spent a lot of time studying (personal, companion, and then as a district) before anyone even came to the class. We really didn't have a clue what was going on until late last night. I'm not sure they have even fixed the schedule completely yet. Brother Crosby, our teacher, is trying to figure it out. So basically, we spent a lot of time studying yesterday. It was good though. Between the mix up and gym and meals, our district is really close already. (Elders Paris, Montague, and Goudy are going to Billings, Montana, and Elder O'Shia (pronounced O'Shea) is a convert of two years and is going to Tuscon, AZ with Sister Stuart. Elder O is district leader. I just got everyone letters (thank you) and I will read them when I get back to my room. I'm hoping to find some time to write soon :) I did the first night in place of journaling, but I have yet to send it.

 

The Branch presidency came into our district classroom last night. They really seem to like our district. I think we're going to have a lot of fun. I got assigned to be pianist, and Sister Day is music leader. I'm nervous, but willing to try. Our district will sing for the Branch the last Sunday that we're hear.

I think we're heading out Tuesday (the 21st I think it is.. idk. I don't have my phone.)

 

I need my watch. Desperately. 

I got my scriptures :) that was fun.

 

Sister Day is loving the cold :) it made it more bearable when it was snowing to see her reaction.

I get lost because everything looks the same and I can only see the mountains sometime, but Sister Stuart has this unfailing sense of direction. She is also hilarious, and has a similiar sense of humor to me. I know this is dorky, but at gym yesterday, we were trying to guess Elder Paris's first name. He told us it started with an S. When we all got tired of guessing, she goes "I know! Sid. Shid the Shloth."

I've felt bonded to her ever since.

Sister Day is awesome. She has a sweet yet confident spirit. She is also very good-natured and good-tempered.

I really am blessed with my companions. They do what they are supposed to, and they are able to have fun, and also able to be reverent. What a blessing.

 

Happy Birthday to Elder Allred, :) I didn't forget that yesterday.

I love you all. 

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to really get homesick as much. I miss the words "Bednight" though. Everytime someone says "goodnight" I think of "bednight."

I've felt the supporting hand of Divine Love in the form of the Son already. 

There's something that hit me as I walked away from the curb that hasn't really left yet. 

I know that this is where I'm meant to be, and I'm happy.

Always going going going, but I'm happyl.

I was able to talk to three actual non-members the first night here. Blessings there also. OYM is so true. I'm realizing that that's one of my strengths. I'm not afraid to share. I'm working on being patient and waiting for my companeras to open up when in a teaching situation. It's hard to know what to say, but hold it in because you know the other person needs to be the one to say something. But it's good for me. I prayed to have help to be humble and sweet. Today I've felt so much better about it.

 

I love being a Sister missionary. We are treated so good, lemme tell you. There is a love that prevails here. 

I felt like I was going off to Hogwarts the first day; it felt so magical. But now I see that it's the Spirit, and it's Jesus Christ's University. I'm so grateful. He loves us more than we can comprehend.

 

I love you all.

PLEASE SEND MY WATCH!

and yeah. :)

PRAY EVERYNIGHT AS A FAMILY!

MISS YOU ALL!

 

Sister Darby Eleyce Miller

The Adventure Begins

As I go back to college, I see my best friend four days away from entering the MTC in Provo. It's an interesting feeling, knowing that that night is the last night you're gonna see them in eighteen months, but strangely, it's ok. In a way, she's going to school, just like I am, only for a more holy purpose. I know she will be fantastic. This blog is dedicated to her adventures in the mission field.