October 10

Blog:

Hey everyone! Well this week I was assigned to train.....(drum
roll).........ELDER STEPHENSON!!!!! Elder Stephenson is from Eagle,
Idaho, he's super great!! He speaks Spanish well, is fearless in
speaking to people and is a hard worker! I was super nervous about
training but it's super great! It's weird, now I reflect back on the
beginning of my mission and remember some of the experiences I had.
It's funny Elder Stephenson and I are really alike, we both sang in
choir, we love BYU, he's very outgoing and friendly and I just feel
sooo happy to be able to train him.
He's been being a champ, this last week we had to divide the island
because they split our area and it's been tough. All of the
investigators, except one lives in the other Elders area and actually
we just received the news that our only investigator is moving to
their area this week....it's been hard on Elder Stephenson, because
all we do is contact people and knock doors. I mean I love it, but I
feel bad because it's tough for a new missionary to have to come into
a situation like this. It'll be good for him though and I'm just
trying to help him feel better and learn to love the work, because
it's truly THE BEST!
We did have a huge miracle this week, yesterday it was raining and all
our visits we had scheduled for the day canceled on us at the
beginning of the day, so we started talking to people and teaching in
the streets and that was pretty tough too(people aren't so fond of
having a conversation in the street when it's raining outside), but
after getting shut pretty hard lots of times Elder Stephenson contacts
a lady and turns out she's a Jew from Mexico. Her name was Gisselle
and she told us she had lived with Mormons in Guatemala. She also
spoke PERFECT English so she spoke to us in English, so Elder
Stephenson could understand. She to,d us she had actually just been
dreaming of Jesus Christ and asked God for help in her life and we
showed up! She was super receptive and is super excited to start
meeting with us. I love the mission because we get to see such
miracles like that, I've really learned to come to treasure moments
like that, those moments are truly sacred.
Elder Stephenson is doing great! If you all could pray for him and for
our area that we can find good investigators so we can have people to
teach and so he can start off his mission good it would mean the world
to me. We're working really hard and I know the Lord will help us,
anything is possible with his help! I hope you all have a great week
and PS it's my moms birthday this next week on the 17th, just so you
all know! Love you all, have a great week!
-Elder Miller

Enviado desde mi iPad

Oct4

Well some big news this week! I hit my one year mark in the mission!!
And we have transfers this next week and the mission is actually
splitting our area and I'm going to be training a brand new
missionary!! I don know who he is yet but I'm going to Barcelona to
pick him up and meet him. Also I was privileged to see one of the
GREATEST conferences ever!!! General Conference this year was
SPECTACULAR!! Seriously I think this conference has been my favorite
conference as a whole, so many inspired words from our Lord's chosen
servants!

So this week has been really great! One of our investigators, Anthony,
from Holland has been making some HUGE progress. Anthony is a 18 year
old basketball player who came to Ibiza so his parents could start
their own business here. He's really good at basketball and so is my
companion(both have a high potential of making it in the NBA in the
future), so we've got together and played some basketball and then
taught him after! We've been teaching him about the Book of Mormon and
he said he really likes it, but Friday we passed by his parents
restaurant and we taught him the Restoration. That lesson will forever
be one of the most special moments of my mission, the Spirit was soooo
strong during that lesson that it brought tears to all of our eyes, I
felt a confirmation from the spirit too that Anthony also knew that it
was true. Although music was playing in the restaurant and there was a
lot of commotion, it seemed as though we were in a bubble of peace and
calm. It's hard to explain really, but Anthony told us after we bore
testimony that he was feeling something within him, something that
just told him that what we were saying was true. He also told us of
the change that he's seen in himself as he's began meeting with us and
we showed him that he has been feeling the Holy Ghost. We asked him to
pray about it that night to receive a confirmation from the Holy Ghost
and he called us the next day saying, "Elders, can you come and meet
with me today? I prayed and I had the MOST special feeling." We told
him we'd pass by later and when we came by he told us, "Elders, I know
this book(the Book of Mormon) is true! Without a doubt I know it!
God's answered my prayers". After this we taught about the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and invited him to read 2 Nephi 31, he's a little
hesitant about baptism right now but he told us he would read and pray
to God about it!

So on my year mark, Thursday, we went to eat with a member family and
they let me burn my white shirt on their terrace, I'll take a screen
shot from the video and send it. So to explain about the white shirt,
it's a tradition on the year mark of a missionary to burn one of their
white shirts representing one year completed and one year to go. It
felt unreal to reach that moment, I can remember my first moments in
the mission, saying goodbyes in Ontario Airport, arriving to the MTC
in Madrid and entering into my first area in Barcelona. It feels like
all that just happened last month, but time flies....I can honestly
say that this past year has been the greatest, hardest, most
challenging, but most of all most rewarding year of my life. The
mission is not easy, but I have realized neither is life! I've learned
to love my trials and always grow. I've been constantly reminded of my
weaknesses and my need to grow, but have been comforted to know that I
have a loving Heavenly Father who will always support me in doing
what's right. I've also learned that the hard times are what have made
my mission such a sweet experience, how great has been my suffering
during some trials during the mission but the Lord has made me into
who I am today because of those hardships and how great is my joy now
as I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Spain. I know
that Jesus Christ gave his life for us, I know God loves us and he
will support us through our trials if we just put our faith in him. I
know God and Jesus Christ spoke to a young boy in a grove of trees in
1820 and that wanted to know the truth, and called him to be a prophet
of God. I know that he was used as a instrument in the hand of the
Lord to bring to pass his great purposes. I've also learned that as we
learn to be humble and always act out of love things will improve,
that God will magnify our humble acts to bring to pass his marvelous
work and bless his children. Also I've learned as we lose ourselves in
the service of others, we truly find ourselves. If we wake up every
morning and ask the Lord what can I do to bless the lives of your
children, we will be guided to those who need us and that we will find
the answers we personally need. The mission has truly changed the
person I am and I have come to know who my Savior is, I still have
much to learn and I am very excited for all the work that lays ahead
of me!
Thank you everyone for all you have done for me to help me become the
person I am today! I truly love you all and hope you have a great
week! Love you!!
-Elder Miller
Enviado desde mi iPad

Sept. 26, 2016

Hey todos! Don't have much time to write but it's been a very
stressful week haha, but it's all good we've seen lots of miracles!
It's been stressful with branch, there's just a lot going on out here
and the branch needs a lot of help. It's a super super great place,
it's just been a little stressful with some of the situations and
things that go in the branch here. Other than that Emilio wasn't
baptized, he needs some more time to prepare himself! We found some
super amazing new investigators and got stuck in a rain storm on
Mallorca when we went in for Zone Conference!
Well to start off the week we got a call from Emilio telling us he
doesn't want to be baptized and that he doesn't want anything. We
calmed him down and met with him and he just got nervous about
baptism. We explained that he wouldn't be baptized if he wasn't ready
and he's all good now. We're going to take it slower with him now!
Later in the week Elder Woodmansee, my district leader, came in for
companion exchanges but the office couldn't book my companion a flight
out to the other island elder Woodmansee just worked with us in a trio
haha! It was funny and kind of awkward, after working in twos for a
year having three feels super weird! But it was good, we worked hard
and had a good time.
This week we went in to Mallorca for Zone Conference and it was super
good!! We learned about teaching with the spirit and set a pretty
great goal of doubling the baptisms in the Zone in the next three
months! I know the Lord is preparing people and we're going to work
hard to find those people who are ready and help them come unto
Christ!
So after the conference we went out to eat, upon leaving the
restaurant we realized that it was raining cats and dogs!! Literally
everything was flooded! We ran all the way back to the church where we
left our things and we made it back completely soaked head to toe
haha. It was pretty funny!
But other than that everything's good! I'm working hard and time is
flying by....by the way I hit my year mark this Thursday....ahhhh sooo
crazy! Time flys but it just gets better and better! Hope you all have
a great week! Love you!
-Elder Miller
Enviado desde mi iPad

Sept.19, 2016

¡Hola todos! ¿Cómo estáis? Well the weeks are just FLYING by now!!!
I'm going to hit my year mark coming up soon.....and it's soooo crazy
to think I've spent a year of my life in Spain on my mission! Time
flys, literally the weeks go faster and faster, I heard the saying
"Days are weeks and weeks are days" but really now it's more like
"Days are hours and weeks are days". It's trippy! We're SUPER busy out
here in Ibiza, there's soooo much to do. Last week we had to spend two
days outside of our area(which I'm not too crazy about) to go to a
Mission Tour where we were able to hear from W Craig Zwick from the
first presidency of the Seventy and Elder L Tom Perry's wife(she's
President Dayton's sister) and it was AMAZING!! Later we worked on
covering visits and making sure we saw everyone we needed to see for
the week after haha.
So during the conference I learned so much! Elder Zwick speaks PERFECT
Spanish and we did the conference in Spanish and it was super great!
He spoke about simplifying, intensifying and testifying when we
teaching, gaining trust of members, and overcoming temptation and
spiritually progressing! It was a very spiritually edifying experience
for me and all the other missionaries who attended. It was also nice
being able to see Elder Islas and Tyson. I also got be in my first
area in the mission! We went to visit a member family that was the
best when I served there, Talia and Andres. They were surprised by the
visit and we didn't have much time but after saying good bye she
handed us two tubs of ice cream and said "Here's some food for the
road!" Haha I really have been blessed to meet some of the sweetest
people I've ever met during my mission. I also was asked to sing in an
octet for the conference and I actually sang a solo, haha I was pretty
nervous because we were singing in front of a general authority and
110 missionaries. We sang a song called, "How Can I Keep from
Singing?" And I remember just being super nervous to sing because it's
been so long since I've performed in front of people and as we got up
on stage I was like shaking haha but the moment I started singing my
solo I felt a warm peaceful feeling come over me telling me everything
would be alright.
As for the work here in Ibiza we have been working with Emilio. He has
a baptismal date for this weekend, but he's struggling with quitting
smoking and so we might have to push his baptismal date back a little.
Also he FOUND A HOME AND A JOB!!!! Thank you everyone who has prayed
for him, he's been searching for so long and finally has been blessed
by the lord with a place to live and a job to support himself. What a
HUGE miracle the Lord has worked in his life!
Well other than that things have been good! Time is just flying by and
I'm loving every second of my mission, I'm working hard and trying to
really to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I'm not
perfect but I know I'm doing my best and I feel good about that! Love
you all, have a great week :)
-Elder Miller

Sept. 12, 2016

Hey everyone! This week has been a little slower but it's good, there
wouldn't be amazing weeks without some normal ones mixed in with the
bunch haha! But we also were very blessed and saw some HUGE miracles
this week!!! An investigator finding the church through us after 13
years of living in Ibiza and later a friend of a member who they've
been to trying to share the gospel with for about 1.5 years has
finally had a change of heart and wants to change his life! The Lord
has been so merciful upon us here in Ibiza.
First off we spent a lot of the week running place to place trying to
cover visits, and because we had lots of visits, but people talk a lot
here and so we try to get out of visits timely but people talk and
talk and talk and talk, which is good because a lot of people are
opening up to my companion and I but sometimes it gets a little long!
Haha we've had several people tell us their whole life story in our
visits this week! Which is great, BUT we have other visits set so
sometimes it puts us in awkward situations. But nevertheless we are
working hard and improving!
So this week we went out to another city on the island, Sant Josep, to
have dinner with a member family and as we got off the bus, a woman
driving down the highway in her car sticks her head out the window and
yells, "ELDERS!!! Come over here!". She promptly pulled off the road
and waved us over, she told us she was a "member" in Peru and that her
brother was a member of the church and she was investigating and
coming to church with him, but moved to Ibiza before she was able to
be baptized. We gave her the Book of Mormon and her eyes lit up! She
was sooo happy to finally find the church and we have a visit with her
this Wednesday and so we're super excited to go teach her!
Directly after that we went to visit that member family and they
invited their Buddhist friend, Christian from Argentina and we went
and had a great time with them! He shared some really personal things
with us and we had an amazing lesson with him. He came to church this
Sunday, dressed in the suit he was married in! He told me at the
dinner we had that he didn't like coming to church because it was
boring but he likes to learn from us, so he comes whenever that family
invites him. This Sunday he came with an open heart and the spirit
touched his soul, I saw him towards the end of Sunday school and tears
were running down his face. I literally was stunned, but it's true.
Truly there is no person who is exempt from the redeeming power of our
savior, Jesus Christ. If we just let him in our lives will never be
the same! We are really excited for him and he told us that he wants
to change his life and he's ready to do what he needs to do to change!
I know that Jesus Christ gave his life for us and that he loves each
and every one of us. He knows us and only asks that we follow him.
"Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy
are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive
you."
(Alma 5:33)
I hope you all have a wonderful week!!! Love you!!!!
-Elder Miller

Enviado desde mi iPad

Sept. 5, 2016

Hola todos! This week has been super good! We've been working more
with Emilio and he's making progress little by little. We've been
working hard but this week has been filled with lots of canceled
visits and street contacting! But it's great, I'm really enjoying this
time I have with Elder Morley, we get along well and we are improving
and working hard!
So this week we've been meeting with Emilio, our investigator who
lives in the street and he's been giving us a little bit of a hard
time. I believe he has some social problems, so he's been saying rude
things to me and some other members but we're being patient with him
and just loving him no matter what, plus he really seems to connect
with Elder Morley so that's good! He had a baptismal date for last
Saturday but he wasn't ready so we decided to set a date for the 24th!
We're super excited for him and we hope he can make the right
decisions that will help him become prepared for that day!! If you
could pray for him to be able to stop smoking and to find somewhere to
live that would be greatly appreciated!
We have a couple other investigators were meeting with but it's a
little tough because everyone is working 10-12 hours a day, everyday
during the summer here in Ibiza to support the tourism until October
or November, so we have about 15 investigators just waiting to have
more time so they can meet with us, so we've been spending a lot of
time finding and working with whoever can right now.
So I've set a goal for myself that I want to reach before the new
year, I've set the goal to lose 10 KILOS or 22 pounds! I'm super
pumped to do this, I'm working out hard and eating healthy(no soda or
sweets)! I'm super pumped for this new goal and I've lost 5 pounds
this first week. We'll see, may I can lose more before the new year!
I've really come to realize that there's ALWAYS going to be
tribulations or hardships, during my mission and for the rest of my
life and that it won't ever be easy, and that I just have to find the
joy in whatever situation I'm in! Before I used to feel super anxious
leaving apartment knowing we were just going to go contacting all day
or sad when people rejected me, but now I just have come to love the
work! I remember on Wednesday we were just walking for like 4.5 hours
straight just talking to people in the street and I thought to myself,
"This is great!". Honestly the mission is just the best, I've really
learned to love life, whether it be hard or easy. In the words of
Joseph B Wirthlin, "Come what may and love it", I've come to see that
that's so true. We can't control whether or not we have trials BUT we
can control how we react to these trials. And that as we positively
react to our difficulties the Lord will bless us much more. Life is
not meant to just be endured or tolerated, ITS MEANT TO BE ENJOYED!
"Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy"2
Nephi 2:25
I invite you all to find the joy in your personal situation and to
look at the positive side of things. I promise you that you'll see a
great difference in your life! I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Miller

August 29, 2016

Hey everyone! Great first week with Elder Morley, we are working hard and seeing lots of miracles! Literally this week has been just filled with miracle, after miracle, after miracle! It's amazing!! Elder Morley and I get along really well and things are going great! We also have met some pretty crazy drunk people and averted our eyes as a nudist protest bike parade was going on through the city, it was just a bunch of men, but still....gross. The people here remind me of my brother, Andy when he was little, always trying to take their clothes off but not too bad, just enough to give us some funny stories! 

So on our first night, we went to visit a less active woman from the Dominican Republic named, Altagracia and her nephew, Alberto! He's super great and is really interested. We taught him the restoration and he really, really liked it! He accepted a baptismal invitation and we're going over to visit him again this week, he's really great and we're excited to start teaching him! 

We also had our first official visit with Emilio, that man from my miracle story last week, that we met as went to go visit someone else. During he first lesson, as we taught him the Restoration, he told me, "I know that this is true. Elder Miller, I want you to baptize me in two weeks" I was totally shocked because we hadn't even gotten to that part of the lesson and that he specifically asked me was.....WOW, definitely something super special. It was a SUPER intense lesson and the spirit was super strong. I've never had someone ask me to baptize them, especially not in the first lesson! It was crazy, he told us, "You came into my life in the precise moment when I needed this the most. I've been searching for so long and I've found it now." It was amazing and tears came to my eyes as I heard him tell us this story. Definitely an experience I'll never forget. But he has a hard time with smoking so it looks like we're going to have to push back his baptismal date a little for him to be baptized. 

Another miracle we saw is we had an impression like we should pass by an investigator named, Norma from Paraguay whose been investigating for a 6+ months now and is just waiting on getting married to be baptized now, so we passed by her house and it turns out it was her birthday! As we talked in the door briefly, she told me that since the first lesson we had with her boyfriend, they've had lots of problems and her family doesn't want her to meet with us anymore or anything, and she told me, "Elder, I know these things are true! If he's not go to support me in this, I would rather live alone and be baptized and have this gospel, than stay with my boyfriend and not have it". Hearing this touched my heart so deeply, knowing that someone would give up everything they had so they could be baptized and become a member and come closer to their Heavenly Father. It reminded me of the talk that Gordon B Hinkley gave, when he told the story of a man from India who was baptized into the church in the United States during college and upon returning home to his family, he was kicked out of his home and shunned by his family. President Hinkley asked this man after he heard his story, "So why did you do it all? Why did you keep on following despite all the tribulations you have faced?" The man responded, "It's true, isn't it?" "Yes." The man then responded, "Then what else really matters?". How many of us are willing to give up everything for what we believe? If it's true, then what else really matters than that? I testify that I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored, that the kingdom of God has been established and that if we are struggling putting our priorities in order, just ask yourself that same question, "Is it true? And do I truly believe it?" I love you all soooo much! I hope you have a great week and can ponder on our own personal testimonies and conversions, if you have time take a look at John 21:15-17 and see how the Lord counseled Peter after receiving his testimony and really knowing that it's true. Have a great week!!

Love, 

-Elder Miller

August 23,2016

Hey everyone! Hope everyone's enjoying the transition of summer to
getting back to school! Not much has happened this past week, Elder
Perri caught Bronchitis and so we had to let him rest a good amount
this week. Other than that, transfers were today and my new companion
is......ELDER MORLEY! Haha Elder Morley is from South Jordan and also
lived in Rancho Cucamonga for a summer selling Solar! He is newer in
the mission, but is a great Elder! Also I forgot to mention....he's 7
FEET TALL!!! Hahaha he literally towers over me, he's over a foot
taller than me! It's super crazy!!
So this week it's been a mix of running to visits that are already
set, running to the hospital so Elder Perri can get treated, running
home so he can rest and saying goodbye to everyone in the branch!
Elder Perri was super sad to leave but he's done a lot of great work
here and now he went to Vitoria, in Northern Spain.
Now I have Elder Morley! He's really great and I'm super excited to
work with him, it's going to be an amazing next couple transfers with
him!
Other than that, we saw a miracle this last week with Emilio. A week
or two ago I had a strong impression that we needed to go visit a less
active woman, we went and she wasn't there, but as we walked away from
the doorbell, a man called for us and started talking to us. Turns out
he was homeless and had Mormon friends in another city in Spain where
he lived. We then invited him to come to church but he didn't come
last week. But this week, guess who was waiting outside of the church
Sunday morning? HIM! Haha he showed up and he's super interested! His
name is Emilio and he's a really interesting man with a lot of
religious knowledge. We have our first visit with him tomorrow morning
so we'll see how things go!
God has blessed us so much here, I've really learned that we don't
receive blessings because God "owes" us but because he loves us and
WANTS to bless us! With the Lord everything is possible! I hope you
all have a great week! Love you,
-Elder Miller

August 15,2016

Hey everyone! Time is just going by so fast out here in Ibiza, it
seems like I just got here last week and now we've gotten to the last
week of the transfer...but this week has been jam packed, we had about
3 days where we weren't able to work due to Conferences, Setting up
for the  baptism and having a companion exchange to do the baptismal
interview. It seems like we lose a day anytime we have to travel. But
it was worth it because FIORELLA WAS BAPTIZED WOOOHHOOOOOO!! Hahaha my
mission president and his wife, President and Sister Dayton came out
to Ibiza to see the baptism and visit the branch and the whole branch
was on their best behavior hahaha. It was funny, but the Daytons loved
it here!
So this is the smoothest I've had a baptism ever go. She came early,
the Daytons arrived and it was packed! To show you how significant it
was, normally we have 40 people in church on a good Sunday and 35
people came to the baptism! The chapel was FULL! Fiorella was sooooo
prepared, she had been receiving the lessons for about 2 years, and
the Elders stopped visiting her about 2-4 months ago because she
wasn't keeping her commitments and didn't really want anything, and
all of a sudden she came on her own and had a huge change of heart,
and within two weeks of that moment she was baptized! It was a
wonderful service and I think my favorite of my whole mission. Elder
Perri baptized her and I was able to do the confirmation, it was
really great. I could feel the spirit really strong during that
meeting and I was soooo excited for her!
We also had Specialized Training this week, which is a pretty much
like a Zone Conference except they don't feed us :( Hahah but it was
really good. We learned about being fearless missionaries, the
converting power of the Book of Mormon, fighting against
discouragement *my favorite lesson* and the Assistants to the
President taught us how to call people out on disobedience. The one
about discouragement really helped me, because I've been feeling a
little down and discouraged and it really helped me realize what
things I need to do to feel happy and how I can combat those feelings
of feeling down. Really at the end of the lesson I realized that, This
work isn't about me, it's about my Savior, Jesus Christ and preaching
his gospel to bless his children. I mean I had already known that but
it was a refreshing reminder of why I'm here on the mission!
President and Sister Dayton really seemed to love the branch! The
branch is on fire!! As a branch we had a goal for the year of 8
baptisms and this week we met the goal of 8 in August!! We are the
first branch in the islands to hit the goal and we can see that the
Lord is blessing us a lot out here. President Dayton also pulled me
aside and told me, "Elder, you ready to take over the island?" Haha I
told him I was and he said, "I know you are Elder!" And winked at me.
Also next transfer the mission has a group of 30+ new missionaries
coming in so it's very likely I could be called to train this next
transfer, so we'll see what happens next week!
But overall things are great out here! I love the branch, the people
are great and the weather is getting cooler, so I'm happy! It's warm
like 83-87° and 60% humidity so it's not too bad haha! Hopefully it'll
start cooling down some more :)
Well I just want to let you all know Heavenly Father loves you! His
love is unconditional and does everything he does because he loves us.
I've come to know on my mission that his love is truly unconditional,
but he also is anxious to bless his children and when we aren't
obedient we withhold from ourselves these blessings. I know that
obedience brings blessings and that God doesn't owe us anything, I
will always be in debt to him for sending his son to come to the world
and die for me, so that I can be clean of my sins and one day return
to his presence. I love you all so much, have a great week!
-Elder Miller

August 8, 2016

Hola familia! ¿Cómo les va todo? Everything is going AMAZING out here
in Ibiza! The Branch is doing super well and are giving SOOO MANY
REFERENCES, never in my mission have I received so many references in
my mission. Last week we received 6 references and the branch council
set a goal of giving us 10 references as a whole in the next 2 weeks!
We have a baptism this weekend for Fiorela, I'll tell you more about
her later and I possibly have the worst ingrown nail I've ever had in
my life haha, SO PAINFUL!
So we started off the week going to Zone Focus in Palma and all our
flights went well! We learned about how we see baptism and how the
Lord wants us to look at baptism, that as missionaries we are helping
people come closer to Christ and that baptism is something they do! We
should rejoice because that person has been baptized, not because we
personally had a baptism. Baptism shouldn't be looked at as a personal
achievement. And the mission set the goal this week to invite someone
to be baptized 15 times throughout the week! Elder Perri and I were
able to invite 15 times and thanks to this goal more people are go
into be able to return to their Heavenly Father! How amazing
missionary work is, to see people taking these steps in their life!
Later in the week we met with our investigator, Fiorela. I believe I
explained a little but she has been passing through a really hard time
this past year after the passing away of her father and she has been
investigating for 1 year. And all of a sudden she came to church last
week and things have completely changed! Elder Perri was sooo
surprised and pretty much we just are going over all the lessons again
and just need to have the interview and baptize her haha. President
Dayton, the mission president, will be flying out with his wife to see
the baptism!
So this week I've had a super bad ingrown nail! But the bad part about
that is that I really can't rest it because we're always running from
one part of town to another trying to cover all our visits and so it
got worse and worse and worse as the week went on. At the beginning
Elder Perri just told me to cut it out but I didn't listen....until
Sunday morning not being able to put up with the pain soaked it and
cut it out! BUT now it's infected.....so we're going to see what
happens with my toe. Haha, but I've been thinking a lot about it and I
realized that an ingrown toenail is like a sin....
To explain at first it starts off small, the nail begins to ache and
hurt (or in other words we make a small mistake) but put off cutting
it out(REPENTANCE) because it's an uncomfortable process. As we go on
we think that it would be easier to just put it off continue on with
life, but as life goes on  we realize that it just gets more
uncomfortable and even painful step by step, day by day. We
contemplate cutting it out but are scared because of how much it will
hurt. We think maybe if I put a bandaid and ointment on it(good deeds)
everything will be fine and we eventually will be able to avoid the
painful process of cutting out the nail. As time goes by we see that
the nail continues growing, progressively getting worse despite our
efforts of bandaging and putting on ointment it can't replace the act
of cutting out this nail that progressively is wedging itself deeper
and deeper into the flesh. Until we reach to the moment where we can't
move anymore, it is not even bearable to take one more step on the
foot. Family and friends, sin is just like this. As we put off our
repentance, rationalizing our behavior, the sin becomes more and more
serious. It affects us more and more as we put it off. An ingrown nail
hurts, but spiritual wounds pierce much more deep and can only be
cured through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. I know that
repentance is not comfortable but I promise that the pain that is felt
cutting out the nail, or repenting, will be far less than that of the
consequences of continuing in the sin. I invite you to think about
your lives and examine if you have any ingrown nails in your own
personal life, and if you do, be brave enough to cut it out. As you do
so, you will feel the love of the Savior healing your soul and this
burden be let go. I know that it's not easy, but it's completely
necessary. I know that the Savior can heal our spiritual wounds, that
through him we can be whole again. I know that he loves us so much and
his greatest desire is to live with us again and for us to enjoy all
the blessings he has waiting for us. I love you all family and friends
with all my heart! I hope you can really reflect on this little
message and apply it in your lives. Have a great week :)
Con mucho amor y cariño,
-Elder Miller

August 1, 2016

Hey ya'll! This week has definitely been one for the books to say for
the least....hahaha. It's gotten stinking hot here in Ibiza and we've
been working hard! So this week I've gotten back home the latest I
ever have on the mission, I've eaten raw chicken, gotten dropped of by
a bus in the middle of nowhere, marched past a nude beach on the way
to an investigators house and taught a lesson in the combined 5th
Sunday class!
So to start off the week we had some "Noche de Hogar"s (Family Home
Evening) with our branch president, one time teaching his Sister and
one of our investigators, Manuel, which was a reference from
President. We taught his sister and her family about the voice of the
spirit and how it softly speaks to us. The next day we taught Manuel
the plan of Salvation and he really liked it! Elder Perri has some fun
laminated drawings we use for it and it's pretty great! We invited him
to be baptized and he said no....sadly but he wants to take things
slow so no worries!
Later this week we took a bus out to an eating visit with a member in
one of the farther out cities in the island. Usually we walk and it's
about a 20 minute walk but we decided to take the bus because it was
sooo hot, so we get to the bus stop and wait for about 30 minutes(it
was supposed to come 20 minutes earlier than that) and then the bus
driver takes a 5 minute break in the middle of the bus route with a
bus full of people. Eventually he starts driving again and we get to a
city named "Jesús" and tells us, "This is the end of the route, you
have to get off and turns out they have just canceled that last bus
stop which was the one we needed to get to that members house. So
determined to make it to the visit we start marching in their
direction and call them to see if they could pick us up, eventually we
got to a meeting point and arrived covered in sweat and 1.5 hours late
to the visit.....so we ate quick and the members we super
understanding and sweet.
Later in the week we had interviews with President Dayton on Mallorca,
so we flew out at 7 in the morning and did interviews and it was
really good! President talked to me about a lot of inspired topics
that I really needed personally and got my outlook on the branch.
Later we were planned to head out of Mallorca on the 6:30 flight. We
arrived and saw that our flight has canceled and we would be able to
catch the 8 PM flight, we ran over to McDonalds in the airport and
relaxed for a little as we waited for the news of where our gate would
be. At about 7:30 they announced that the flight was canceled again
and FOR SURE they would get us on the 9PM flight, but sure enough that
one was canceled too! Haha, long story short we left the Mallorca
airport at 10:45 and got to Ibiza at midnight, and IBIZA IS CRAZY AT
NIGHT! But our good luck didn't stop there! We arrived and found out
we had missed the last bus that takes us to the main city where we
live, Ibiza city and began calling members to ask them to pick us up!!
Haha it was crazy, but eventually a member named Wilbur, was up and
came and picked us up. We got back home at about 1 in the morning.
Elder Perri and I were sooo tired!
My first week we found a Brazilian lady named, Marlyne from Santo
Espiritu, Brazil and she lives in one of the party cities named, Sant
Antoni and we had a visit with her this week. So we took a 45 minute
bus ride and realize that she lived near the beach and the we would
have to walk by a road that is right on the beach. And this city is
known for being a crazy party city and have a bunch of naked people,
Elder Perri and I just booked it down this section of the road that
passed by the beach and pretty much were facing the complete opposite
way of the beach and started singing Primary Hymns! It was pretty
funny! After the dreaded walk we made it there and taught her about
the Restoration, she really opened up to us and told us she had seen,
"The Other Side of Heaven" movie and we talked to her a little bit
about that. She really liked the lesson and said she would be baptized
but didn't accept a baptismal date. But no worries, she's really good
too!! Teaching her was interesting because she spoke half Spanish and
half Portuguese. I've realized I actually want to learn Portuguese,
it's a super funny sounding language haha!
Yesterday we went to visit two investigators named Jacinto and Maxima
and they started making us food, and the husband made us chicken
wings, but when we started eating we realized that the chicken was a
little too slimy and chewy, after a couple bites Elder Perri showed me
his chicken and it had blood all over it, because IT WAS RAW!!!! It
was so gross, I would put that chicken on a number one of the grossest
food I've ever eaten on my mission, or a close number two to Cow
Stomach Lining. But we told them it was raw and Jacinto had started
drinking and was totally drunk and was convinced that chicken isn't
supposed to be cooked all the way. He wanted us to eat it, but his
wife Maxima didn't make us and just awkwardly took our plates and
tossed out the chicken. It was pretty awkward and gross, but oh well!
We don't have salmonella yet...!
Other than that the work here is good! There's SOOOO many people that
are so prepared here, I feel like the Lord is just handing us these
people! Maxima, the wife of the man who gave us raw chicken, accepted
a baptismal date for the 20th and a members daughter who has been
investigating for a year came to church for the first time and we
passed by their house later and when we invited her, she said, "We
were just talking about getting baptized before you both came over,
and I'm ready". She's passed through a hard time after the death of
her father last year and has some emotional problems, but she's ready
and were so excited for her!
I love you all sooo much! Hope you have a great week! I know that God
loves us and that he is there. He is waiting to bless us, but
sometimes we get in our own way of receiving those blessings. I know
that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I'm so grateful for the
Restoration of the Gospel! Have a great week! Love you!!!
-Elder Miller

July 25, 2016

Hey everyone! So this week was pretty great and we had a baptism
WOOOOHOOO!!! So this week we got to see the baptism of Mercedes Ferrer
Tur! She is an 81 year old Spanish woman(she's technically Ibizzenca
because she's a native of Ibiza). She's the sweetest lady! We also are
starting to get into the swing of things as a companionship and things
are going well!
So this week I also got to do a companion exchange to the island of
Mallorca, which is the biggest island out of the 3 Balearic Islands,
and because we are the only missionaries on Ibiza we skype into
District meetings and we have to fly for Zone Conferences, and
companion exchanges! So we did a companion exchange this week so our
district leader, who is in Mallorca, could interview Mercedes for her
baptism! Mallorca is really big and the main city, Palma is pretty
much like Valencia to me with more Spanish people haha. We had a good
time there and I got to fly there and back!
We also had to set up a bunch of things for the baptism, and had to
make lots of adjustments for her because she has a bad back and knees,
and we have a portable baptismal font that is above ground that we put
up in the Chapel. So we were either going to have to pick her up and I
was going to have to hand her to Elder Perri in the font and he was
going to have her float and push her under to baptize her or baptize
her in the Beach! We were hoping we were going to be able to baptize
her on the beach but sadly she wanted to be baptized in the church.
She told us the day before the baptism, "You are going to get brownie
points in heaven for baptizing a Spanish lady!" And also "I'm so
excited to get baptized for the second time!" Hahaha she's sooo funny
and sweet. We got to Saturday, the day of the baptism and she called
us at 10:30 and told us that the lady she lives with who is 86 years
old, and she got super sick all of a sudden that day and she didn't
know if she was going to be able to come to the baptism. Luckily she
got someone to take care of the lady and came to the baptism, and when
it was time to do the ordinance she climbed up the stairs normally!!
We were sooooo surprised because she was so worried before and then
when Elder Perri finished the prayer and was about to help her float,
she just let him baptize her like normal, IT WAS A MIRACLE!! We were
sooo surprised that she was able to do that! And when she raised up
out of the water, she did the Catholic cross thing on her chest and
everyone just started laughing super hard! And Elder Perri just says,
"It's alright, she's a Mormon now" haha. She also did that when I gave
the Holy Ghost the next day! It was super funny, but that's what
happens after a practicing Catholic of 81 years gets baptized! But she
was soooo happy after her baptism and said she felt sooo good and
could feel that the Holy Ghost really was with her and that she had
had a great change of heart. It was truly a miracle to see her get
baptized!
The weather has been getting hotter and the miracles are being
showered down upon us out here in Ibiza! I don't have much time to
write but I love you all! I know that this church is true and that
Jesus Christ directs it and that any person can come closer by reading
the Book of Mormon! Love you all so much, have a great week

July 18, 2016

Hey everyone! Things are going well here in Ibiza, the weathers been
pretty cool this week and the branch is amazing here!!! I'm super
excited to be here! So this week has been a lot of resting(Elder Perri
has been feeling kind of under the weather) and getting to know the
members here. The Elders here have done a super good job and so now we
are just reaping up the rewards, I know that we can keep things moving
here but most of the elders the have served here have been ex-Zone
Leaders or are now Zone Leaders so the area's pretty great!
The branch president, President Gomez is super pumped!!! Every time he
sees us he says, "Baptism! Baptism! Baptism! We gotta be baptizing
every week Elders!" President Gomez is a super great man, he's
recently been called as branch president a year ago after 2 years of
coming back to the church after 26 years of inactivity in the church.
He has great faith and it shows in this branch! Haha he's been excited
because the branch has had 5 baptisms in the past couple months and
they all are really great members! And we also have two people who
possibly could be baptized next week!
One of the people who are going to be baptized this week is a 81 year
old, Ibizzenca(what the people from Ibiza are called) woman named
Mercedes. She's super sweet and really sweet! She's excited to be
baptized and she calls us her "nietos" which means grandsons.
The other lady's name is Mariana. She is Ecuadorian and has lots of
problems, but is a great person! She has been meeting with the Elders
for a while now and hasn't been able to get baptized for a while but
finally, things cleared up and got straightened out so we're helping
her get ready for this week or the next!
Another cool fact about the church here in Ibiza......the branch is
made up almost 100% of Ecuadorians! But that's okay, I LOVE
ECUADORIANS!! Ecuadorians are some of the sweetest, humble and loving
people I've meet in my life. The branch has about 30 active members
and usually 40ish show up to Sacrament Meeting.
On Sunday Elder Perri told me about a deaf member from Canada who is
in the branch and told me that I'd have to translate the meeting to
him, but writing it out on my iPad in English so he could read what
was going on. So that was interesting communicating with him, because
he doesn't speak Spanish either, so later I translated for him as he
taught a class to the young men of the branch about the Plan of
Salvation! It was actually pretty fun trying to figure out what he
wanted me to say then communicate it to the class of young men! Haha
Well yeah, things are pretty great here! It's getting hotter so
hopefully I can shed off a few pounds haha. Please pray that Elder
Perri can feel better so we can get back to work and help the people
here in Ibiza!! I know that this is the Lords work and that missionary
is one is SOOOO IMPORTANT! The Lord is anxiously waiting to bless all
of his children(including ourselves) and as we share the gospel with
EVERYONE we allow the Lord to bless all of his children abundantly. I
hope you all have a great week, love you!
-Elder Miller

July 13, 2016

Hey! Welp looks like my time in Valencia has come to a quick end....we
received transfer calls this week and I've been called to serve in the
Balearic Islands, on the famous party Island of IBIZA!! I'm now
serving with Elder Perri from my district in the MTC. We are also the
only missionaries on this island and the branch has about 30-40 people
here.
Turns out missionaries have only been here for about 4 years and the
church has only been here for 10! So it's pretty crazy to get to serve
here, and the branch is doing super well! I met the branch president,
President Gomez and he's amazing, he has so much faith and is a super
great man. The missionary work here has been going super well too, the
past transfer they baptized 4 people and it looks like this place is
just filled with miracles!
I'm super excited to be here, even though it's super hot and
humid....I would say it's about the same as Florida in the summer,
it's going to be great! Hopefully I can sweat off a few pounds haha.
But it's going to be a great area I'm very excited and feel privileged
to get to be one of the few missionaries that have ever been able to
serve here.
Serving in areas where the church is smaller is so amazing. When you
serve in big cities and big wards, you become just some other
missionary and really it's not as evident the good you do, but in
these small wards and branches you become "THE MISSIONARIES" and the
members just love you sooo much! It helps me understand how important
this work truly is and how much it can bless the lives of those around
us.
Although it was sad to say goodbye to Valencia, I'm excited for this
new challenge and opportunity to serve the Lord in this part of his
vineyard! I hope you all have a great week, love you!

July 4, 2016

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!!! I actually forgot it was going to be
Fourth of July, but then an American family from our ward invited us
over for preparation Day today for an American Barbecue. But in other
words this week was good! Our investigators Monica and Franklin are
making huge progress and I got to preach the gospel a group of
Ghanians outside an African Store and try some INCREDIBLY spicy
Nigerian "Pepper Soup".
Monica and Franklin are progressing really really well! Not only have
we seen a huge change in them but they just look sooo happy now!
Monica told us that when she hears the lessons and reads the Book of
Mormon she feels so happy and that she can feel the spirit testifying
to her of it. Also Franklin is coming around, before he wasn't super
excited about meeting with us, but now both of them have accepted a
baptismal invitation for the 16th of July, and they are SUPER pumped
to be able to be baptized on this day!
So this week during an companion exchange with the Zone Leaders, Elder
Kimball(He just finished being an Assistant to the President)and I
passed by a store named, "Zion Afro Store" and we saw some African men
sitting down on a bench outside and so we contact them all and set up
another visit. We came back during a member split I did and the member
didn't speak English so I was teaching this group(6-8 guys) of men
from Ghana. I taught them the first lesson and when I started talking
about Joseph Smith, one of the men who kept on cutting me off named
"Adi", says "The United States was founded by aliens!!! All you
Americans just do everything for money, you can see there's that weird
pyramid thingy on the US Dollar." And I just say, "What does that have
to do with anything I just said?!" All the African men started
laughing and told him to chill, I finished teaching the lesson and
invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray and if they
received an answer to be baptized and only one of them said yes. His
name was Ishmael and he was contently listening the whole lesson and I
could really see that while the other men were not very focused, he
had his eyes fixed on me the whole lesson. Although the other men
didn't feel the spirit I know he did! We're going to meet with Ismael
next week so we'll see what happens!
An investigator from Nigeria named Patrick gave us some soup and rice
after a lesson. And I swear it was the spiciest thing I've ever had!!!
I started coughing and sweating and it was super intense!!
Other than that the week was pretty normal with finding lots of people
and talking to nice people in the street! The Gospel truly blesses
people and changes lives! Have a great 4th, and have fun eating some
hot dogs and watching some fireworks!!! Drink some extra Root Beer for
me because we don't have Root Beer in Spain!
-Elder Miller

June 27, 2016

Hey everyone! Things are getting VERY warm out here in Valencia and
the work is great! We are working hard and things are going well for
us. This week I had some interesting things go on to say the least!
We started off the week with an companion exchange with Elder
Lightfoot, who is from my group and so that means he has the same
amount of time as me in the mission, so we worked hard and did a lot
of finding! Later in that day we were contacting down a street, and
started talking to a gypsie man, who goes to an Evangelical gypsie
church and he was super interested. We ended the contact short because
we had a lesson and we were late, we knocked the mans door and he
wasn't there so we went back to teach the man a little more, but turns
out he was starting church or "culto" as they call it, so we asked him
if we could see and we talked to his pastor and they invited us in! We
gladly sat down in the pews, in this beat down evangelical church and
they started blasting music and gypsie scream singing(it sounds weird
but gypsies sing like they're screaming always haha). Later in the
meeting the pastor announced our visit to the congregation and we
continued watching as they blasted music and scream sang and said some
weird prayers......it was definitely an interesting experience seeing
the way that the gyspies worship to say the least. And we've been
approached by lots of gypsies asking us about who we are and what we
do! So it was a pretty good finding activity if I would say hahaha.
Our investigators, Monica and Franklin from Ecuador are doing really
well! We taught them the plan of salvation this week, and it was super
good! They are really changing and you can just see the difference in
them from the time we've met them. They came to church and now have a
TON of friends in the ward and really enjoy it. Anytime we invite them
to do anything, the wife Monica looks to her husband and says, "Do you
want to do this? because I really do!" And Franklin always tells her
okay, and at first he didn't seem very excited but now he really wants
to do everything. He can't read on his own(it's not so uncommon here),
so we downloaded the Book of Mormon audio onto a usb-drive and he was
sooo excited to be able to read the Book of Mormon! I'm sooo excited
for them!
Hope everyone has a great week! Love you!
-Elder Miller

June 20, 2016

This week has been pretty jam packed with lots of member
splits! Elder Gonzalez turns out to have Tendinitis in his foot and so
we got permission from President to leave him with our ward mission
leader, Hermano Buffoni, and I've been going out with youth from our
ward. We also have meet some really great people this week!
So to start off the week we went to the doctors to check out Elder
Gonzalez's foot and they quickly determined he has Tendinitis in the
sole of his foot. They told him that he needed to stay off his foot
for an ENTIRE week.....so we decided that the best option would be
finding a member to leave him with and to find someone to go it with
me. Luckily our ward mission leader is retired, therefore he's always
at home and his son, Carlos, came back early from his
mission(well....not so lucky on that part) but his son was able to go
out with me for Wednesday and Thursday, then a member named Russell
came out with me on Friday. It was really good for Carlos to come out
with us because we are able to help him catch the spirit of missionary
work and have some spiritual experiences to help him get back out on
his mission. Hermano and Hermana Buffoni was very very excited to see
him going out with me, and told us that he's starting to change
already from just those two days together.
If we didn't have members with us we pretty much were stuck in Piso
but luckily that only happened for two mornings of the week, so I got
to take two naps and once we found other members to come out with us,
it was back to work! I can't tell you how precious sleep is on the
mission, it literally is just go go go for two years and the lack of
relax time takes a toll, but it's sooo worth it!
So this week Carlos and I found an Ecuadorian couple named, Franklin
and Monica, on the street by our piso and they were super rude right
off the bat, actually Monica started getting upset with me and was
telling me how churches are horrible and that she doesn't believe in
any church, only in the "one true God". We assured her that we believe
in "the one true God" as she says it, and that we were sharing a
message that he wants her to hear, so she accepted us to let us come
over on Friday. On Friday I went over, with another member, Russell,
and we taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The
lesson was SUPER intense and the spirit was super strong there, Monica
opened up to is a lot about the experiences she's had in her life, and
she truly has been prepared to receive the gospel in this moment in
her life. She then came to a baptism the 3rd Ward had with us, on
Saturday and really really liked it! Then on Sunday came with us to
Sacrament Meeting, actually they picked us up and drove us! They
really liked it and Monica told me at the baptism, "I've always
opposed organized religion, but I don't why but I just feel so good
being here. It just feels right." In a matter of days she changed from
a person who just had a dark countenance to someone who looked full of
light. As we saw her desiring to make this change we invited her to be
baptized on the 16th of July, and she said she would if she knew it
was true! I truly hope she can continue making these changes in her
life that will bring her so much happiness!!! This gospel is really a
gospel of happiness and change!
I love being able to see people make these changes in their lives! I
know that the gospel blesses families and that anyone can change, no
matter what, because our Savior Jesus Christ completed the atonement,
we ALL can change! There is no exception, case or reason why we can't
change, the only thing that holds us back is ourselves through our
pride. May we always let the Lord change us to be who we should be and
put his will above ours! Love you all very much!!!
Have an amazing week!

-Elder Miller