Elder Miles & Bryce Bender

Bryce walked into his home YSA branch in Vista, CA & noticed an Elder Miles there...

Bryce served in Bolivia with another Elder Miles & mentioned that to Elder ETHAN Miles. He asked him where he was from & long story short they found out that the other Elder Miles who served in Bolivia with Bryce is Durrant Miles, Ethan's cousin!! Holy small world!!

Christmas PJ's

Elder Miles is a "Cougs" Fan for sure!!

So this is what missionaries have to resort to in order to get a bicep workout in!! 

Bend with your knees Elder!!

December 28, 2015 Here we are AGAIN!!:)

Hello all. Well since we saw each other on Friday I don't have a whole lot to say. Saturday morning we recieved a mini missionary. His name is Christian. He will be with us until Thursday morning. (This is a MOM note added: I wasn't sure what a mini missionary was so I found out it's one of the Youth in their stake that have a "trial run" or a "serve a mini mission" with the missionaries! Sounds fun!!)

Our investigator Duluce dropped us as well on Saturday. She wouldn't give any reason but she was pretty set on the decision she made. So the baptism that we had scheduled for January 9th is no longer going to happen.

Thanks everybody for all of the gifts!! They were awesome! And I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!! Love you all. And I will talk to you next week.

Love always,

Elder Miles

This is a picture of me and Sister Bradley.  I am laughing because she handed me the nice sign then I noticed that she had jokingly as well picked up the naughty sign.  Good times in the mission field!

(author's note...hee hee, We just found out on our Christmas skype call that Sister Bradley is the daughter of Shawn & Annette Bradley...the 7'6" Shawn Bradley that played for BYU & went onto play in the NBA.)

Love his testimony....

"I love teaching the gospel & I'm planning to teach & serve others long after my mission here is through!"

December 21, 2015 "I wish you all the very best Christmas ever!"

Well this week went really well. Unfortunately Deluce didn't come to church because some family stuff came up. So we have had to push her baptism back to January 9th. But she is still doing really well. She keeps all of our invitations and is really looking for the truth. She wasn't quite understanding authority, so that is something that we really focused on. We also have two super solid fellowshippers. Ilse Gomez and Caitlyn Romney. They do a really good job with answering her questions. We've got her. It is just going to take a little more effort.

We haven't found any other people to teach lately. Vista (the area that I cover) is full of pot heads and any other drug that you can think of. So a lot of people are always down to learn more but we never get past the first lesson. Because most of the time they just aren't worth it when we can be out finding people that will understand the importance. So it has been slow. But everyone is having a good time.

It is super weird that Christmas is already here. And that it is going to be just another day. We have the day to rest but at 6pm we just go right back out and continue to work. And the fact that there is no snow, and its 70 degrees. I don't think that has ever happened in my life other than when we lived in St. George. But even then it was colder.

There is also a really weird and awkward missionary sitting next to me right now rubbing my foot... with his foot. Sooooo I need to go. But I wish you all the very best Christmas ever! 

Love always,

Elder Miles

Ta-DAH!! Look what Elder Miles won!...

...actually this is what he says about it, 

"This is what I won at the white elephant zone activity this week. A 3rd place soccer trophy"

December 14, 2015 "I know that this is the TRUE CHURCH..."

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week!

This week we picked up a new investigator named Deluce (De-loo-say). She is 19 years old, her father is a pastor for the Seventh Day Adventist church, and she wants to be baptized! She is super solid and sincere, has a lot of questions, but loves the gospel.

This last Saturday the Sisters in our ward, Sister Bradley and Sister Call had a baptism. Her name is Tiffany and I had the opportunity of conducting her baptismal interview. She pretty much was already a member before. She has been coming to church and all of the activities since June. Also during convert baptisms missionaries usually share a spiritual thought while they are getting changed. So I had the opportunity to do so as well. The spirit was so strong! That entire baptism was so amazing and only strengthened my testimony even more. I showed the Christmas video then tied it in with the restoration. It was on point.

Well I have to go now but I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission here in Carlsbad. I am grateful for the gospel and to have a prophet to lead and guide us today. I am grateful for Joseph Smith and his courage to go through everything that he did. I know that this is the true church, and the constant spirit that is felt by being a member of it.

I am grateful for you all and wish you the best of luck. Talk to you all next week.

Love always,  

Elder Miles

 Ding Dong!! We're here! So excited for our yummy 

Sunday dinner with the Summers Family!!

Get some food in 'em quick Alexx!! Elder Friend, Elder Rudd, Elder Wilson & Elder Miles are slipping into their crazy food deprived missionary mode!!

Ready for some grub!!

Yep!! That hit the spot! Feeling great with a full belly!

THANK YOU AMAZING SUMMERS FAMILY FOR TAKING CARE OF OUR BOYS!!

High-5!! Put 'er there Frosty!!

MILKSHAKES!!!  DO A BODY GOOD!!

The balmy California weather even in December, still requires COLD ice cream:)

 Hey! No laying down on the job Elder Miles!!

Operation: SERVICE PROJECT SATURDAY

Love Elder Rudd's shirt! "Have I Done Any Good?"

December 7, 2015 Nothing wrong with short, sweet & to the point:)

Sorry I don't have a lot of time today.

We had an awesome service project this week for a widow that lives in our stake. Her grandson, who had previously taken care of her yard, passed away in a motorcycle accident about a year ago. So the yard hadn't been touched since then. So we spent most of our day Saturday to fix it up for her. And it was so sweet to see the gratefulness that she had for us and our ward members who came.

So I am sure you all have heard of this years Christmas video. This is something that the church is really pushing for and it is a great missionary tool. For members and full-time missionaries. I would like to challenge you all to share it on as many social media sites as possible, and continue to re-post it throughout the month. And any of those less actives or non members that you know that like it or comment on it, invite them to learn why.

Why did God send his only begotten son to atone for our sins?

In our mission we are already seeing sooooo much success from it. #miracles! Invite everybody! And those that are ready will hear our Heavenly Father calling them to come into the kingdom of heaven by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God!

Anyways I gotta go now, talk to you all next week.

Love always,

Elder Miles