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
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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
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