1/26/15 Half Mission Conference with Elder Nielson from the Quorum of the Seventy

Dear Family and Friends,

I love being out on the Lord's errand!

It has been a wonderful week. I am filled with love for the work and love for all those here in the California Santa Rosa Mission. I realize that I haven't gone in depth is some of my latest letters to you, and so I am going to take some time to share some of the things that have been on my mind lately.

We are seeing so many miracles in the work currently. We keep meeting so many people, and seeing so many miracles. This possibly has been one of the best transfers of my mission. When we first arrived in Arcata, we started from ground zero. We had no clue what we were doing, but somehow we made it through. We started with faith and obedience, and then we started to pick up family after family. This is the first time on my mission that we have picked up more families than single individuals, and it truly has taught me that families are so important. Just this past week have had two miracles families. First, during a zone car-detailing activity/church tours, a young single mother named Hana and her 5 year-old triplets walked in. Right when she walked into the church she began to cry. As we showed her around the church, her tears of sorrow fell freely. She told us of her horrible past of childhood and marital abuse, and how she finally escaped. Her ex-husband is now trying to take away her beautiful children, and she is trying to support herself and them by a flower-shop that she owns. She was very upset and she literally has no one; no family or friends. Hana then told us how she was searching for support through a church was going to, but how she feels like she hasn't been getting it. We took her into the chapel, and shared "Mountains to Climb" with her, and taught her about the Book of Mormon. We picked her up as an investigator, and we will be going to see her this coming week. She is a miracle. She literally came to us, thanks to the elders doing crazy-sign dancing for our car-wash.

Our other miracle was the Youravish Family. The hermanas said a harvest blessing with them a couple weeks ago, and then we stopped by yesterday afternoon. The mom let us right in, gathered in all her children that had been playing outside, and had them sit and listen to our message. Come to find out, they have met with missionaries before in Eureka and also in Mexico... apparently very regularly for about five months. She doesn't remember very much because it was about nine years ago, but she is very interested in having us come over and teach them as a family. She understood our Book of Mormon intro, and said that she would read it WITH her family. It was amazing how she understood clearly what we were saying. We are excited to teach that family. They are another miracle family.

We have had many miracles with some less-actives that we are working with. The Sonato family is being more open with us, and without being prompted to, one of their daughters asked us to come over this past week.

Another miracle is that Sister Kautzer, who has been less-active since she was a teen, has been coming to church every week. She is determined to gain a testimony, although she says she isn't sure if the church is true or not. She just wants a forever family so much. We visit her at least once a week on her own, and then eat with her and her husband every Friday night. Brother Kautzer is a recent convert who has gone off the deep end. The miracle with them is that this past week, at the end of one of our lessons, Sister Kautzer looked over at us and signaled for us to ask her husband to pray. He has previously politely refused, but this time he did. He thanked Heavenly Father for sending the sister missionaries and giving him another chance to do it right.

Anther less-active we have been working with is Bethany. She has read all the way to Helaman in the Book of Mormon since the begining of January when we first found her. She has been reading every and any church material that she can get her hands on. Every time she hears or reads about a commandment she begins to live it. For example, she read on a Tuesday night that we usually have FHE on Mondays. Without even waiting for the next Monday to come around, she held a Tuesday night FHE with her 3 year-old Naomi. She is working on the Word of Wisdom, and she got rid of her cable box a couple days ago so she could pay tithing, and she has been asking about fast offerings. We get texts from her all the time about where she is in the Book of Mormon, what she is reading in the gospel principles book, and even one time she sent us a text that said "my piercing is coming out for good." She has been pushing and pushing for us to find her records and move them into the ward, and finally now they are.

I have learned so much from Sister Whimpey. I love being her companion. I have been working on being consecrated and she has helped so much. She is patient, and she tries really really hard. We teach in unity, and we are constantly striving to be better teachers and to be more righteous servants of Jesus Christ. I love her so much, and I want to be like her. If it is the Lord's will, I would love to stay with her. But I know that whatever the Lord wants is best. I am willing to follow His plan for me.

I am amazed at how much more I understand the Atonement.

Also, we went out to Hoopa, a Native American Reservation about an hour away from Arcata, and held a sacrament meeting there. My companion and I gave talks on faith and commandments (her talk) and on faith and service (my talk) It was really amazing to feel the Spirit there. These people... their ancestors were the descendants of Nephi and Lehi... wow. To hear them say the sacrament prayers.... wow. They are trying to start a branch out there. We held the services in a little rented church. It was the most humble sacrament meeting I have ever been to. Bishop Floyd got special permission to take us sisters out because he felt like we would add to the spirit, and then an hour later, they asked us to speak. So we had a total of five minutes to prepare after stake conference with Elder Evans (which was amazing! He talked about having FHE and going back to the basics... praying, studying the scriptures, and attending church.) And we also prepped in the car on the way there. All in all, it was an amazing week.

Elder Nielson from the Quorum of the Seventy also spoke to our mission this past week. He taught us more about the Atonement. We literally sat in meetings from 7:30 in the morning until 7:00 at night.... I will send a picture of an overview of what I learned. I wish I had time to go into detail.

Also, I wish I could explain more, but my testimony was tested this week. But I can say that now I know I can make it. I know that my Savior and Redeemer lives. I have not seen it, but I know that He is there. I know that when we COME unto Him, when we Pray, when we SEEK and ASK and KNOCK and FOLLOW and HUMBLY SUBMIT OUR WILLS, then we will feel peace.

This is a gospel of action. When we step forward with even a mustard seed of faith, we will see miracles. It just all depends on whether we are WILLING to do so.

"And if ye know these things, see that ye do them."

IF YE KNOW THAT THE GOSPEL IS TRUE, SEE THAT YE LIVE IT.

If you aren't sure, I extend an invitation from the Savior Himself,
Come, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.

Only the Savior can do that.
Only the Savior can help us be who we really want to be.

I know that He lives. I know that this gospel is true.

If you, my dear reader, have any doubts, I say come. I will talk with you. I will listen to you. I will love you no matter what. I know that this will bless you if you will but COME.

Love,
Sister Miller

1/19/15

And I am out of time again. I'm just going to send pictures. We have been all working really hard in our mission, and contacting so many people. We picked up 5 investigators and it's going really well.

So busy. I will write more next week.

READ THE BOM!

Editor's note: Well, at least we got a new picture from her. :) Also, we have only a little more than five months until she gets home. Just sayin'. I'm not counting down, or anything. ;)

Pics as Promised!

Here's more pics from Darby. :)

1/12/15 The Week of Miracles: Consecration

Hey! This week was awesome.

A quick run-down of this week:

Things are going really really well here in Arcata. Sister Whimpey and I are seeing a lot of blessings. Ever since Camp Liahona, we have both been working on trying to put in a more consecrated effort, and we have seen a lot of blessings. We picked up a former family that is awesome. We called a member they know to come to their lesson, and funny enough, the member had been having promptings to talk to them about the gospel again, and they hadn't known that we had picked them up again.

We have had a lot of miracles. We also picked up this man named Steven. We taught him the plan of salvation, and he cried the whole time. He accepted a baptismal invite. Then, we went back a couple of days later, and he had a friend named Cathy over. Cathy turned us away at first, and then she realized that we had an appointment with Steven, but she looked like she had been in tears, and she told us that today wasn't a good day. I'm not really sure how it happened, but we were then kneeling down to offer a harvest blessing. We then continued to explain the plan of salvation to her, and she disagreed with a lot of it when we first explained it, but as we testified, her heart softened. As the lesson went on, Steven began to help us teach Cathy. Keep in mind that he had only had one lesson. Cathy had so many questions, and we are going back to teach them next week.

We had a lot of other really cool lessons. We have a less active named Bethany who is basically eating up the Book of Mormon. She came to church and she said that after three hours of church, she still didn't want a cigarette, which is big for her. She is awesome.

We also picked up a single dad and his son (age 11). So cool. we are going to see them tonight. Their names are Anthony and Steven. Pray for them. They are going through a lot. Also pray for their daughter Alyssa.... she is not receptive, but she could be.. :)

Also, we have just seen so many miracles. I'll write more next week.

Something cool:
The Book of Mormon literally is a story about our conversion, starting with the first word in the first verse "I." From that point on, it is not only a true story, but also an allegory/metaphor for our life. Lehi is like Joseph Smith... after he hears the other prophets preaching to the people. So he goes and prays, and sees a vision. Super cool. Then, Nephi (us) has to have a desire to know what Lehi saw is true and to pray to know for himself. Then... he has to slay the "natural man" when he kills Laban. Then, he and his family travel to the promised land..... and from there on it continues. So cool. It ends with Moroni's Promise in Moroni 10:3-5, where the reader has to figure out if that really is the journey they have taken, and if that really is the journey that they want to continue taking.

Also, I have been trying to consecrate myself..... and Sister Whimpey is awesome. We are teaching really well together, and we love all the missionaries we serve around, and it's beautiful up here. I love it. I absolutely love it up here.

Love all of you!
I challenge all of you to read the Book of Mormon in 2015, and then pray and ask God if it is true. Another cool experience I'll have to share next week.

Love,
Sister Miller

1/5/15

OUT OF TIME! SO SO SORRY! IT'S BEEN CRAZY!

We went to Camp Liahona and camped for 3 days and 2 nights. that was weird. No one ever tells  you that while on a mission you will go camping. It was so much fun. I learned so much about myself and about who Heavenly Father expects me to be. I love President Alba and Sister Alba. They are such good examples. A comment made there has really stuck with me.... most often missionaries are assigned to a mission president and his wife, instead of being assigned to a mission. Pretty cool. I have learned so much about them.

While there, we did a big service project with all the zone leaders and STLs. We dug out some places in a hillside for tents. So sore, but so good. It was a lot of fun. We then had hours upon hours of leadership training. I have never had such a spiritual experience before. Really, probably only the temple was a greater spiritual time of learning. It was amazing. They told us when we got there that we weren't there because we deserved to be there, but rather, because we needed to be there to learn certain things. It was amazing. Main theme: redwood trees and how it applies to our spiritual growth. Consecration. Obedience. Humility. CHARITY. :) It should be the ultimate motivation for all that we do. I feel though that now my testimony is solid, and I have so much hope. I feel like good things are just around the corner and forgive me if my responses don't come as soon as I'd like. I haven't forgotten you all. I'm just trying to buckle down for this next 7 months.

I am going to write out a big long letter and attach it to my letter next week. I want to share a quick miracle from the exchange I went on. We did service for a couple instead of teaching them. We cleaned for them. They are detoxing from drugs and they just had their son taken away. We washed their kitchen and dishes, listening the whole time. Then we taught a short lesson and invited them to be baptized. They said yes, set a marriage date, and are completely committed. They hadn't shown that interest the past couple times the other sisters had gone over. It was pretty sweet.  Service opens hearts. Coolest experience. You'd have had to be there. For reals.

I know that we can become like Heavenly Father, and that is what He wants for us.
We just have to follow His Son. We have to ask Him what we should do with our lives. We have to be open to Him. We have to live the laws of Obedience, sacrifice, the gospel, chastity, and consecration. We have to offer up ourselves and give back our agency willingly to Him. We have to offer up our will to Him.

Love you!

12/29/14 Christmas and Years

All the sisters in the Eureka Zone are doing great! I am doing great! I am so excited to be here in Arcata. We are excited for this next new year. Sister Whimpey and I get along great! We are trying to build up relationships with ward leaders, and we are working hard to complete assignments that they give us. The ward mission leader seems eager to help, and I am excited for this next transfer. Things are starting to quiet down after the holidays, and it seems like we find miracles everyday. We are doing a lot of finding, and Saturday the zone gave us a blitz, on which were found some really awesome people. We are both excited to build up a good foundation here, and something that our zone wants to focus on is setting baptismal dates.

I am excited for camp Liahona this coming week. I am excited to learn, and to learn how I can do better. I am also excited for Elder Nelson to come in January. Sister Whimpey and I set a goal to reach a goal of at least 20 contacts everyday, and we also talked about really focusing in on our baptismal invites everyday, even if it is in a street contact.

We are going on exchanges with Sister Afoa and Sister Eyden this week after district meeting, and we are really excited about that.

It was amazing to be able to talk to my family on Christmas. They have had a lot of struggles the past year, especially the past few months or so, but when I saw them on Skype, I really could see and FEEL that Heavenly Father has been and will continue to take good care of them. That is a huge burden lifted for me. It was also a little scary as they spoke to me about the next seven months.... seven months. Wow. Time flies. I try not to think of it. I just try to enjoy it, and work.

And I know I say this almost every time I write, but I really do love being out here. There isn't any other place that I would rather be. I've learned so many things, and I couldn't imagine who I would be if I hadn't come out on a mission. Sister Whimpey and I talked about that last night... how we wish we could go home and get married and have a family, but STILL be missionaries. Funny enough, we think that that is when the work is REALLY REALLY going to hasten even more... when you have all the fire-ball missionaries out, and all the fire-ball returned-missionaries out there working in the field together. I'm excited to see the next few years, although I wish time would freeze. There are moments as a missionary that only you and your companion and Heavenly Father can understand.

We picked up this man named Peter this week. Older, and a "spiritual" sort of guy, he was willing to listen to our message,, but as we started to share the Book of Mormon with him, his demeanor changed from a simple openness to a sincere interest and curiosity, and then as we explained the promise that Moroni gives, he asked to buy the book. It always takes me off guard when people do that. "No! no!" We explained that we wanted to give it to him, and inside I felt like I could never sell a Book of Mormon because it could never be bought. It is worth so much more than that. It is priceless.

As we handed him a Book of Mormon, Peter just held it. That moment was priceless, and it lasted a good moment. When we invited him to be baptized he just shook his head, real slow, in a good way. The silence was killing me, but we kept waiting. I then started to try to explain the "As you know that it is true" part, but he spoke too before I could finish and told us yes. The Spirit was so strong. He then asked about church on his own. It was amazing. We prayed, and he gave us oranges and pictures that he took of Mother Teresa in Calcutta ministering to the sick. He called then called us angels.

Those are the moments no one can understand. No one but Heavenly Father.

I've been noticing lately that a little light goes off in my head when I feel the spirit. I am starting to recognize it more when we teach and more when I am studying in the morning. I'm trying to look for it more. I've learned that I don't feel it as much through emotions than I do through the chills, or just through a calm stillness.

So yeah. Also, this next week we are going to a three day camp out for Zone Leaders and STL's.... training and rebuking by the spirit. I am excited, and really scared. First of all, we won't be in our area almost all week, which is not good. Secondly, I am excited and scared for the rebuking, but excited to be able to improve. Thirdly, I am super scared for the drive down there. It's going to be nuts. It's a crazy windy drive, and Sister Whimpey and I have felt really really sick the past couple of days. Either a really bad cold, or a really whimpy (no pun intended) flu. Who knows? Either way, Heavenly Father is blessing us... We haven't really had to stay in. We've been making it alive.

We had a blitz in our area this past week. A blitz is where everyone in the zone will come and work in one companionship's area for two hours. There were so many miracles. We found a few formers who were interested, and also we found a Less-Active named Bethany that isn't on our ward records and Sister Whimpey gave her a Book of Mormon to read. That was Saturday. We went back Sunday. She's in 2nd Nephi already. Wow. Miracles. She was a convert when she was 15, but then hasn't been to church since she was a late teen probably. She's never read the Book of Mormon, and so she is really excited to.

Also, We ate Christmas eve with the Kautzer's... another less-active famliy. Miracles. We had a spanish dish pronounced "Moh-lay." Don't ask me how to spell it. Basically, it is chicken with a spicy chocolate sauce over it. Probably one of the coolest things I have eaten on my mission. Anyways, I just wanted to document it. Also, Sister Kautzer is awesome. She had chosen to start coming back to church on her own just a few weeks ago, and hasn't missed a week since. She works nights, and so when she comes to church in the morning, she is coming without having slept in like forever. That'd be like the equivalent of a normal person going to church at like 11:00 at night or so. I'll never complain about church being too early. If Sister Kautzer can do it every week, I can too. Please remind me of that when I get home.

Also, It was amazing to speak to my family. That meant the world. There were a few people I missed talking to. This is just a shout-out to you to let you know that I did notice. Anyway, It was a balm of Gilead for me, because I could just see them. The time flew by way too fast. It always does. It was weird though. It helped me feel like me. It helped me realize that even though I will be different when I go home, I will still be able to be missionary minded. I don't know. It makes more sense in my head. Like, there are those missionaries that are afraid that when they go home they will lose all the ground they gained in personal development. I was so afraid of that. Now I am not. I know that I can do it. I will be different, but just a better version of me. I will be a better servant of my loved ones. I will have a better view on life. I also learned that I don't really want to go home yet, which hasn't been an issue, but sometimes you just miss home, of course. I just learned that I don't want to go home because it's not time. This is where I need to be, and it is also where I want to be. I have grown to love California, but it is much more than that. It is being a missionary that I really and truly do love.
Heavenly Father taught me a lot during that Skype home.

Well. I am excited for this coming week. Exchanges in the Eureka Sisters area... (Sister Afoa from New Zealand... this makes transfer number 6 that I have served around her. Sister Eyden... who is from Texas and is on her 3rd transfer. She was born here. So fun.)

Well. That's that.
Happy new year!
Remember, set goals... but also MAKE PLANS! :)
it's not enough to know you are going to do something, you have to prep and plan for it. HOW are you going to do it? Involve the Lord.

Also, "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" is awesome.

Also, I love reading the New Testament about the Savior. I've learned so much. This week I am going to study in depth John 15, if you want to study it, I will probably write more about it next week.

Also, thank you mom for that picture of the Savior, and thank you Sister Allred for the wonderful Christmas Devotional. It's been the best.

Also, I love reading the New Testament about the Savior. I've learned so much. This week I am going to study in depth John 15, if you want to study it, I will probably write more about it next week.

Also, thank you mom for that picture of the Savior, and thank you Sister Allred for the wonderful Christmas Devotional. It's been the best.

I love you all!

The gospel is true! No doubt about it! It's more than just a church building. It's about taking the sacrament, and then really taking what you learn at church, and DOING something with it during the week. If you aren't going to church looking for answers, it is a lot harder to find any answers.

Also, I just wanted to share this cool little experience. There are a lot of hobos up here. I just talked to one outside of Winco.... I told her she was a daughter of God, and she just cried, and gave me a hug. Sister Whimpey and I were talking about that this morning... If people even knew that they could become like Heavenly Father. Not become Him... but become LIKE HIM.... If we could only see ourselves the way that He sees us.... If we could only trust Him enough with our lives to live them in service to Him. If we could only set aside the sins that so easily beset us... If we could only see ourselves the way that He does... what would we live like? Sometimes I get glimpses of it in others... I get so frustrated with people as a whole, but then I look at the individual, and I am in awe. Especially with the wards out here. Sometimes as a missionary you get frustrated, because they just can't seem to help as much as you would like, but then you take a step back and look at them from Heavenly Father's perspective. They are Pioneers. They are standing for the truth everyday. People notice them everywhere they go. They are missionaries without even knowing it. One day, I hope to be like them. Build up Zion where ever you are, and where you are is here and now. 

Zion is the pure in heart. It is in the hearts of the righteous. Seek, and ye shall find.

I leave you all with a challenge for this week. 

Pray, and ask Heavenly Father to see a glimpse of who you can become, who you really are inside. This might come right away, or it might take some time, but I promise it will come. 

Then listen. 

Then, before you get up off your knees, ask what is one thing that you can do now to reach that potential. 

Then again, listen. 

Then get up and GO AND DO that one thing.

That's how you get a miracle. 

I love you all! I know that the Savior lives. Somewhere, out there. Right now. He's aware of you, but even more than that, He loves you.

I love you all, too. Very much. :) Every single one of you. Thank you.

Love,

Sister Miller