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