Yes, I have already been gone for over four months. I can't believe
it. I know I still have a long way to go, but still; four months. 1/6
of my mission.
Let's recap. No, their is too much. Let me sum up.
It's amazing how much you learn on a mission. Not just about the
Gospel, but about life in general. For example, if you already are
feeling ready to burst, and you still have half of the burger; save it
for later. Don't try to finish it.
Seriously, though. I have learned so much about myself, and about
other people. Most of all, though, I have learned about the Lord. The
more I learn about Him, the more I realize how little I comprehend
Him. But that does not mean that I cannot love Him with all my heart,
or that He does not love me. Because He does. He loves each of us;
personally, individually and perfectly. It also does not mean that we
cannot come to know Him.
I would like to relate an allegory. Some of you may have heard it,
some not. I may have told it before, I can't remember. But when I
heard this story my mind caught hold of it like a steel trap. And it
has resonated with me to this day. The story is called: The
Interviewer.

Two men were called into an office, one by one, for an interview. The
first came in and sat down in front of the desk.
"Well", the man behind the desk said, "what do you know of Jesus Christ?"
Surprised, the first man responded. "I know that He was born in
Bethlehem, of the virgin, Mary. I know that a new star appeared, and
that angels heralded His birth, and shepherds worshipped Him."
"Very good," the interviewer said, "But what do you know of Him?"
"I know that He was baptized by John the Baptist. I know that He
taught the sinners, healed the sick, and raised the dead. I know that
He called Apostles, and sent them to testify of Him."
"Very good, but what do you know of Him?"
Now perplexed, the man continued. "Know that He suffered for our sins.
He was crucified, laid in a tomb, and resurrected on the third day. I
know that He lives."
The Interviewer nodded encouragingly. "Very, very good. But what do
YOU KNOW of Him?"
The man had nothing left to say. He had exhausted his knowledge of
Jesus Christ. He left the office, wondering how he had not answered
the question correctly.
The second man entered the room. The chair was instantly forgotten.
Upon seeing the Interviewer, he fell to his knees, exclaiming in
wondering awe, "My Lord, my God."

What can be learned from this story? I won't tell anyone what it
means, because every time I read it, I learn something new. I will say
this: I want to be second man. It is my greatest wish to stand before
my Lord, and to know Him immediately as my Savior. And by living the
way that He wants me to live, doing what He would have me do, and
becoming, through his grace, who He would have me be, I have faith
that I will know Him the way He would have me know Him.
I love you all.
Elder Miller

er give up

Hey!
Greetings from Nephi, Utah!
This week has gone really well. It has actually been raining for over
a week here! People must have been praying extra hard, because it is
starting to feel a little humid here. It looks like it might rain
today as well.
We had a baptism on Saturday. Our investigator, was only nine years
old, but I have never met a sharper kid in my life. When he bore his
testimony, the spirit filled the room. He was baptized only two weeks
after we met him.
There was another event this week, very different circumstances but
equally amazing. One of the investigators from my last area was
baptized. She has been meeting with missionaries for five years, and
two days ago she was finally able to enter the waters of baptism. My
heart goes out to those many missionaries who have taught her over the
long process of her conversion, and I thank my Heavenly Father for
them. The scriptures teach that the worth of souls is great in the
eyes of God. I know that this is true. I know that she is a beloved
daughter of God, and that the Angels rejoiced when she was baptized.
We all know someone who is struggling in life. We all know someone who
could be blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we all know
someone who we think will never come unto Christ. But I know that the
Lord sees those people differently. He sees their potential. And He
will never write them off. He will never give up on them. And neither
should we. Those people are precious children of God, and as we come
to truly see them that way, then we can love them the way the Lord
loves them, serve them the way He would, and be led by the spirit to
help them on the long journey back to their Father in Heaven. All we
have to do is never give up on them.
I love you all
Elder Miller

  

This week has been good. This area is so different from Cedar. In answer to your question, reopening an area is hard. We have to sort of jump start the area, get the excitement up, dispel discouragement from the members, and get the work flowing again. My new companiado is Elder Urbina. He is from Miami, and he has served in this area before. He was here when they closed it. We are really short on missionaries right now, so some areas had to be closed to reopen this area.

Speaking of bikes, I will be using one of the mission bikes up here in this area. This whole experience is entirely new to me. I have really begun to appreciate the challenges that missionary work presents. I can feel myself growing, becoming stronger as new struggles arise and are overcome. I'm not to the point where I am praying for challenges, but I see them in a new light. I recently saw a Mormon message called the refiners fire. That video really strengthened my testimony of the purifying power of adversity. I know that the challenges we face in life are consecrated by the Lord, and help us to become the people that our Father in Heaven wants us to become. How will we ever learn our true potential if we are never stretched?

The weather is warming up here as well. We got to help an elderly Sister get her garden area ready to plant. One of the sisters in this stake has Nubian goats, so that was really fun. We are going down to Ephriam today to play football with the zone.

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