Re: Hey, Jon!!

This week has been awesome! Btw, thanks for having us kids work so hard. Learning to enjoy hard work is probably one of the most important lessons that I have learned yet. This week we worked so hard, and I loved it. So thank you.

Anyway, we got transfer calls on Saturday. I am getting transferred! Tomorrow morning I will be going up to Nephi. President Center informed me that this is as far north as this mission goes. Also, get this: the area is bilingual! My new companion is Spanish speaking. So I will be learning Spanish, but I won't have the extra time to study it. Oh, and then the icing on the cake: we are reopening this area! I'm not sure how long it has been closed for, but we are going to be the jumpstart for missionary work in that area. So yeah, I am so excited. I am going to miss this area so much. I never realized how much service cultivates our love for others. I have put my heart into this area, and the fruits are beginning to show. Now someone else will have the privilege of harvesting that fruit. But I will always remember the wonderful people in the Cedar West Stake. 

I am about to enter an entirely new era of personal growth. I have one doubt that I am about to face challenges that I cannot face on my own. But I also have no doubt that I will not be facing them alone. And that is what makes this work so wonderful. Through the Lord's power, we can do things that would be impossible on our own. So watch out, Nephi! The Lord has a work to do.

This week has been awesome! It had it's ups and downs, of course, but overall it was a good week. We gained a new investigator, and lost another. We taught 26 lessons this week! Not our highest number yet, but still a busy week. Transfers are coming up, but the likelihood of my being transferred is relatively small. More likely, Elder Gordy will be transferred, and I will be in charge of this area. :O I only have a week left of training left, and then I will be cut lose from the training wheels, as it were (dont tell Elder Gordy that I referred to him as training wheels) ;). There are a lot of exciting changes going on in this area. We just got a new high counsellor in charge of missionary work, and he is so awesome! He brings a lot of enthusiasm to the work, and he is really encouraging the ward mission leaders to magnify their callings. It really is amazing to see the difference in the wards where missionary work is an active focus, as opposed to those who  are not quite so enthusiastic. To anyone who thinks that missionaries can get along just fine without member support, think again. Where members are not engaged in missionary work, the work suffers.

I have learned something really important, both for full-time missionaries, and for member missionaries: If you are trying to do missionary work the way that somebody else does it, you probably wont have much success. The ways of sharing the Gospel are as varied as the people who share it. Heavenly Father has made us entirely unique, each with talents, skills, and abilities that we can and should use to further the work. Some are successful by boldly crying repentance, others by gently and lovingly guiding others to the Lord. Just because we dont have the same talents as someone who we see as a great missionary, doesn't mean that the Lord does not have a work for us to do. He does. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass". Alma 37:6

Until next week. 

Elder Miller

 It snowed last night, and it is cold today.
We are planning on a seeing a couple of our investigators, including
the new one. :) we are super excited about that.
I thought before that I understood missionary work. I thought that I
understood what it means to be a witness of Christ. But I am
discovering just how far I have to go. But instead of being
discouraged, I am excited. The work is difficult, but the blessings
that come from it far outweigh the cost. So I say, let it be hard.
I heard a wonderful quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He said that
some missionaries ask why the work cant be easy. why cant it be simple
to help others come unto Christ? why dont people flock to baptism? But
it is not easy, because Salvation is not a cheap experience {imagine
Elder Holland's voice speaking those words}. Why should it be easy for
us, when it was NEVER easy for Him who made it all possible?
We can all use the Atonement a little more in our lives. We all should
use the Atonement a little more. He paid for this gift with His life.
The least we can do is show our gratitude by living the way that He
would have us live.

Hello, world! I am grateful for monday emails. It reminds me that the world still exists outside of Cedar. This week has been full of ups and downs. Mostly ups. The work continues to move forward, and it is all we can do to try and keep up. I was able to perform my first baptism this past Saturday! I am so excited for Sister Philips. I hope to see her go to the temple soon.

Our Father in Heaven loves all of us. His arms are extended to everyone, and those arms are only one heartfelt, earnest prayer away. Sometimes, when we feel the distance between ourselves and Heavenly Father, We wonder how we can possibly cross that great divide. But it is the adversary that wants us to believe that the distance is too far. When we open our hearts in humility to Him, then He crosses that divide that we have created, and we can feel His loving arms wrap around us. He is very aware of our struggles, and He wants to help us. Let's let Him.

Elder Miller