Miracles and RAT MAN RETURNS! (May 19th)

President Alba

EXTRAORDINARY LOVE

EQUALS A CELESTIAL MISSION


As I had the opportunity to spend time with you over the last few weeks in zone conferences I saw an amazing thing happening. Your light is shining brighter than I have ever seen it before. I saw real kindness and love extended to one another. I saw a mission of one heart and with one focus. I saw companions taking care of each other.... lifting one another...helping one another. I saw District Leaders, STL's and Zone Leaders reaching out to ‘lift up the hands which hang down.’

D&C 81:5-6

5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
6 And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father.

It was a little bit of heaven right here on earth. It felt good. It felt divine.

We are closer to God than we have ever been before. Can you feel it? If not, I tell you it is here for you if you just reach out to grab it and become a part of it. Be ‘ALL IN’. Don’t miss it. It is up to you.

So now our mission has been told to Increase our High Expectations…. By an apostle of God, Elder Cook. The Hastening is ‘Hastening’ right before our eyes, again and again. How exciting is that? And it will not stop.

D&C 82:14

For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments.
So once again we are among the first in the world to hear the call from the Lord our God. But we are ready. We can do this. We are already doing so much of it so well. We are shining! We are his earthly angels. We are HIS.

It all comes down to love; Extraordinary love of the Savior. We gain more love for Him as we come to know and understand Him better. This next 2 transfers we are immersing ourselves in the Book Of Mormon together as a mission. Together we will rise up in righteousness, holiness and strength. We will increase our beauty and our borders will be enlarged. We will arise and put on the beautiful garments of Zion. We will become a Celestial mission

D&C 88:20-26

20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified.

21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.

22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.

23 And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.

24 And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.

25 And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law—

26 Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.

Living the Celestial Law is not easy,… the trigger is having extraordinary Love of Jesus Christ….which brings extraordinary obedience….which brings extraordinary faith…which brings extraordinary results. We can do it.

This is not only possible in our mission. It is happening. It is there for the taking. We have been given the pathway. The Lord has chosen us to lead the world. Let us all reach out for the torch that God is handing us, take it in faith and courage and fulfill the measure of our creation.

Love, Sister Alba 

Dearest President Alba,

We have seen many miracles this week. We've reached out to some formers, set up a few appointments with them, and I am so excited to meet with them. This past transfer has literally flown by, even more so than ones that preceded it. I want to share some miracles with you:

Monday:

We had an extraordinary FHE in the singles ward. We missionaries had asked to be allowed to teach it. We showed the Restoration video, bore our testimonies, and then did some skits to show how to share the gospel using random household objects. It was really silly, but fun, and it was quite a success, I think. We even had an investigator named Sean there, and he told me that he related to Joseph Smith because he felt like that was him three weeks ago, not knowing which doctrine was right. He told me that he had prayed to know, asking God to guide him to the church that was true. A few days later, he bumped into.... tadadaDUH!!!!!! MISSIONARIES! Sean expressed that he believed that the church was true. I asked him if he had prayed to know if Joseph Smith's First Vision really happened, and he said he didn't need to pray. I bore my testimony of my experience, and how I KNOW that Joseph Smith really did see God our Loving Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. I invited him afterwards to go home and pray about it, so that he could KNOW it was true. He looked me in the eye, and I could tell that he was going to do it. I knew that he wanted to know.

Tuesday:

I went on exchanges with the Rincon Valley Sisters. I have to admit, I have been a little overwhelmed and stressed a bit, feeling a little inadequate, but they reminded me through example that MISSIONARY WORK IS FUN! :) It really is. I was able to work hard, to feel like I was contributing to the Rincon Valley, and we even saved an injured bird from some hungry cats (I couldn't bear to see them kill it!), and we were able to interact with the non-member neighbors who were drinking. We asked them for a shovel, and they helped us get a box for the bird. Then we shared a message about God. Somehow in the process I lost my name-tag. It was approaching curfew and I started to panic. In the dark, we couldn't find it. We had to leave.

That night I prayed and prayed. And then next morning on our run, we couldn't find it.... because it had been in Sister Barker's purse.

Wednesday:

We taught at a 7th Day Adventist high school World Religions class for an hour about the Restoration. Wow. One of my coolest experiences. So cool. They had so many questions, yet they were respectfully curious. You could see it especially in one girl's eyes. Wow. The other sisters noticed it as well. We gave each student a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet and contact information for the missionaries. After class let out, a group of about four students (including the girl) came up to us, and we taught them about the Plan of Salvation. You could see things click with them as them asked questions and we answered. The spirit was present, and it was amazing. As the one girl walked away, I heard her say to her friend "I'm definitely reading this book!" So cool. One of my favorite moments as a missionary.

Later that night we taught a few people in our neighborhood some first lessons. Miracles.

Thursday:

The Oakland Temple was amazing. We rode with the Bangeters, and heard their mission stories and the story of their lives, etc. The temple really does revive me. I now understand why people say that every time they go, they learn something new.

We had some special miracles that night. Daniel, our investigator has a family, and we've been trying to teach them together for months. Somehow, it all just happened. We taught his 11yr old Sister Angelee out on a park bench across the street from her house. Daniel walked up, sat down. Then his mom (who we think is a long-lost member) came and sat with us. Later, I lost one of our keys, and she helped us find it. She expressed her faith about answers to prayers and following the Spirit. Miracle.

That night at sport's night, we had a former, Arthur Chaney, come. He's going to be meeting with us tonight, at FHE. So excited. That just goes to show how important the ward members are.

Also at Sport's night, Sean told me that he prayed, and that he knows without a doubt that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.

It's moments like those that blow you away as a missionary.

Friday:

We did service for Rene, a recent convert. People passing by stopped to talk to her, and she always pointed us out, and we offered service. It felt so good to serve. I love it.

We had a hard lesson with Elliott. His biggest concern is with coffee. In the end, it will be his choice. Obey God, and learn that it is true by praying and by experiencing a life living the word of wisdom, or choose to have your cup of coffee everyday and not be baptized. It's hard because he was so close to giving it up. Satan uses those small wedges. They are so small, yet in the end it is always the one degree that makes the difference between hot water and boiling water. It left me feeling down that night, because I have come to truly love Jessica and Elliott, and I want them to be blessed. It also made me realize that I'm living beneath my potential, and that I need to step it up. I'm frustrated with Elliott for not giving up something as small as coffee, but I found that I had my own little wedges that I'm going to be attacking here in the next little while. I know that Elliott will find the answer. He's just got to keep trying. He's got to be willing to do whatever the Lord asks.

The Lord will never give us an answer that He knows we won't follow.

Saturday:

We had a blitz, and I went with Sister Barker. She is so cool. I'm amazed by all the greenies out here! They are on fire! She taught me to offer the gospel to everyone, but also move on so that you can find those who are ready NOW. I think this is a problem that Sister Murphy and I have. We spend a lot of time with everyone that will talk to us, and then nothing happens from it. I'm ready to find those that want to hear us! I'm excited!

We had an awesome lesson with a LA who wants to know the truth. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray. Another miracle, because the lesson was unexpected, yet it was amazing. I love seeing the desire to know in people's eyes.

Sunday:

We were able to get one of our contacts that we see every week at Safeway to church. His name is Kurt. He came to church, and loved it. You could tell that he was uncomfortable at first, but he sang the hymns, and listened to the talks about Joseph Smith and other prophets, and about authority from God. Elliott also came to church. He said that he always feels the Spirit here. We told him it is good to have questions, and that he is always welcome to church. In the long run, he has come so far from when he first walked into the chapel that January Sunday. He has come a long way, and he will continue to do so, because he is seeking truth.

We had a first lesson with Kurt. I was a little stressed about it being a first lesson with all the things that need to be said in a first lesson. I was making the lesson awkward because I was too stiff. I prayed to Heavenly Father, telling Him that I was going to let go, but that I needed His help and guidance to be able to be obedient. I told Him that I knew that He could help the lesson flow to the baptismal invite and things. It happened, so beautifully. We had two members there, and Sean wanted to join us. That scared me at first. I've taught two investigators together before, and it is hard. But Sean was amazing! He bore his testimony of Joseph Smith and that this is the true church and that God lead him to it. Kurt told him that he was praying for God to help him be a better person, because he just wants to do what is right, and Sean pointed out that if this isn't a sign (two missionaries walking up to him), then he didn't know what was. He told Kurt not only to pray to know if what we were teaching was true, but to pray ask ask God what he should DO because of it. So cool. Kurt prayed right there. He told us believed all that we related was true, and that he would be baptized as he came to know it was true. So cool. You could see it there in Kurt's eyes. Despite the social fears that he had had, he came to church, met many good people, and felt the spirit during the First Vision. He is meeting with us tonight hopefully before FHE as well. We were also able to get all of our contacts last night downtown.

Miracles.

This week has been full of miracles.

And it is all to the glory of God, because I know that it is not me.

I am so grateful to have been a part of this week. I love that look in people's eyes when they feel the Spirit; when they begin to believe. All it takes is a desire to believe.

So I'm going to build my faith. I'm going to believe that God can help me get it all done, but even more than that... I'm going to have the faith to act accordingly. I'm going to look forward to the miracles that are all around me. They are everywhere.

Miracles.

With love and hope and faith for the future,

Sister Darby Eleyce Miller

PS... DEAR LOVED ONES. I met Adam, the rat man again last night. He swore up a storm as we were TRYING to preach the gospel! Ahem! Excuse me! ;) 

 then I realized who he was. I called him out on it. "Adam! Why are you yelling at random strangers who aren't even talking to you! You didn't know it was going to be me, did you? That's embarrassing! You were so nice to me last time. What happened?"

He apologized, gave me his CORRECT facebook information (which he muffed up last time so that I couldn't really find him on facebook) and then listened as we sang "I am a Child of God." and he let me hold the rats again, and I introduced him to Sister Murphy.

Some of the saddest things I have seen have been downtown. 

God is continually reaching out, but sometimes people are so blind. I don't blame them. They have so many problems, but nothing will happen for them until they listen. It continually breaks my heart.

We walked away from Adam. He wasn't listening. We're just another stepping stone in his path to accepting the gospel. That's the beauty and the hardship of missionary work: You just love these people so much.

I love you all.

Look for the Miracles. 

Mosiah 4:9

the whole chapter is amazing, by the way.