I want to be kind to everyone for that is right you see!
So I say to myself, "Remember this...."
January 25, 2016 wise words...Keep on KEEPIN' ON!!
This last week has been super hard. I don't know what is going on I feel like I am depressed. I was going to talk to President on Saturday because we had quarterly interviews but he ran out of time and I didn't get the chance. I am really frustrated & unfortunately our ward doesn't trust us.
I went on exchanges with a missionary in my district this week. His name is Elder Martinez. He is pretty cool. It was nice to get out and share the gospel. We worked super hard, his area has a lot of big hills and it was super fun. We are both kind of going through the same thing right now companion wise. So we were able to let most of our emotions out by just talking about it. And we set some really good goals that should help us out a lot more.
Shannon came to church yesterday. He is learning a lot and I feel in the next couple weeks that if we don't set a baptismal date, he will set a date for us. During class he was talking and being super involved. It was awesome. Something I didn't know is that he is dating a member that is in our ward that is super solid and that is going to help him progress a lot. Other than that not a whole lot happened this week.
Just gotta keep on keepin on and we will get there. The key to solving problems as a missionary is attitude. Things will work out & I believe we will turn this area around. Anyways I will update you next week on how it goes. Love you all!
Love always,
Elder Miles
I went on exchanges with a missionary in my district this week. His name is Elder Martinez. He is pretty cool. It was nice to get out and share the gospel. We worked super hard, his area has a lot of big hills and it was super fun. We are both kind of going through the same thing right now companion wise. So we were able to let most of our emotions out by just talking about it. And we set some really good goals that should help us out a lot more.
Shannon came to church yesterday. He is learning a lot and I feel in the next couple weeks that if we don't set a baptismal date, he will set a date for us. During class he was talking and being super involved. It was awesome. Something I didn't know is that he is dating a member that is in our ward that is super solid and that is going to help him progress a lot. Other than that not a whole lot happened this week.
Just gotta keep on keepin on and we will get there. The key to solving problems as a missionary is attitude. Things will work out & I believe we will turn this area around. Anyways I will update you next week on how it goes. Love you all!
Love always,
Elder Miles
January 25, 2016 Wanting to take liberties again...some other "wise words" from another Elder Miles I know...I am so blessed to have such men in my life that encourage & uplift me. A few excerpts of Nathan's words to our son...
...I can promise you this... the next 18 months will be the GREATEST of your life if you give yourself completely to them. School, football and the future Mrs. Ethan Miles will all work out...you will learn so much and grow closer to your Heavenly Father and elder brother Jesus Christ & they will guide you through it all.
Read your patriarchal blessing weekly and watch in joyful amazement how it comes to pass.
I love you My Son Elder Miles
Kia kaha - "Stay Strong"
Pops (Jan 2016)
...Take advantage of every opportunity and make every effort to learn and grow from these experiences. As I was driving into work this morning I was listening to the Book of Alma and the account of Moroni and the scripture that says if we could all be like Moroni the very power of Hell could not prevail against us. Then it goes onto say that Moroni was like unto Ammon and Aaron and the sons of Mosiah. They all were great missionaries, leaders and true believers in our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you read the account in Alma 38 this past week and tried to implement it in your life. I hope you know just how many people are praying for you every day. Help our Heavenly Father answer their prayers. Have a Great Day, set goals to challenge you individually and as a companionship, and a District, and then pray for guidance to meet those goals and have a GREAT Week.
I love you MY SON,
Papa. (Dec 2015)
Elder ETHAN “my son” Miles, As part of this 12 days of CHRISTmas that mom has engaged in I would like to share a testimony with you. I would like you to know that I gained a “for my own” testimony when I was 13 or so. Or should I say that it was about that time that I REALIZED I had my own testimony. I never doubted the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I always loved going to church and being a part of it. However it was about that time that I started to sincerely pray and saw answers to my prayers and then I asked directly if it was true and I received an answer. My testimony has only grown from there, as they say “a line upon line, here a little there a little” over time I can now say because of personal experiences that I KNOW my Savior lives, that he is the SON of a living GOD, our Heavenly Father and everything that has been revealed through living Prophets. The priesthood power is real and more powerful than we can imagine and if we are in tune with the spirit and worthy of this wonderful power we can be the instrument on earth to BLESS the lives of our fellow Brothers and Sisters. I know we can receive personal revelation and it was that very power that sent you to us to be our first born. It was through the Priesthood power and the proper keys that were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith that sealed you to us and made you our first born in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. I LOVE YOU and hope that this Christmas will be one of the BEST ever. It won’t be the same as the 17 prior Christmases but it can be one of the most special.
Love always,
Papa (Dec 2015)
I love you My Son Elder Miles
Kia kaha - "Stay Strong"
Pops (Jan 2016)
...Take advantage of every opportunity and make every effort to learn and grow from these experiences. As I was driving into work this morning I was listening to the Book of Alma and the account of Moroni and the scripture that says if we could all be like Moroni the very power of Hell could not prevail against us. Then it goes onto say that Moroni was like unto Ammon and Aaron and the sons of Mosiah. They all were great missionaries, leaders and true believers in our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you read the account in Alma 38 this past week and tried to implement it in your life. I hope you know just how many people are praying for you every day. Help our Heavenly Father answer their prayers. Have a Great Day, set goals to challenge you individually and as a companionship, and a District, and then pray for guidance to meet those goals and have a GREAT Week.
I love you MY SON,
Papa. (Dec 2015)
Elder ETHAN “my son” Miles, As part of this 12 days of CHRISTmas that mom has engaged in I would like to share a testimony with you. I would like you to know that I gained a “for my own” testimony when I was 13 or so. Or should I say that it was about that time that I REALIZED I had my own testimony. I never doubted the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I always loved going to church and being a part of it. However it was about that time that I started to sincerely pray and saw answers to my prayers and then I asked directly if it was true and I received an answer. My testimony has only grown from there, as they say “a line upon line, here a little there a little” over time I can now say because of personal experiences that I KNOW my Savior lives, that he is the SON of a living GOD, our Heavenly Father and everything that has been revealed through living Prophets. The priesthood power is real and more powerful than we can imagine and if we are in tune with the spirit and worthy of this wonderful power we can be the instrument on earth to BLESS the lives of our fellow Brothers and Sisters. I know we can receive personal revelation and it was that very power that sent you to us to be our first born. It was through the Priesthood power and the proper keys that were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith that sealed you to us and made you our first born in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. I LOVE YOU and hope that this Christmas will be one of the BEST ever. It won’t be the same as the 17 prior Christmases but it can be one of the most special.
Love always,
Papa (Dec 2015)
January 19, 2016 New area...bible bashin' is for the birds...
Well this week has definitely been interesting. Angel didn't get baptized on Monday. Soooo his new baptism date is January 29th. I will be able to go to it and baptize him when the time comes.
Transfers were very interesting. It was weird leaving my first area that I have been in for 6 months. But Murrieta is super awesome. It is just like southern Utah. Just a little more sand and less rock. It is warmer during the day but cooler during the night. That is why I was wearing a jacket in that picture that you saw earlier this week with my new companion Elder Burandt. We have a couple investigators. Our biggest potential is Shanon (who is a guy). We had a lesson with him on Wednesday and he pretty much bore his testimony three times during the lesson. The only down side is they have been teaching him for 3 months and haven't even talked about baptism. So I brought it up and challenged him to a date...so we'll see.
On Saturday we had a dinner set up with a non-member who in the past has been a super big bible basher. His name is Jeff. Elder Burandt & I were sitting there & we hear the door bell ring and in walks a guy holding several bibles. He then walks right up to us and says, "Hi, I am a professor at the local Calvary Bible College and I am here to prove that you two are going to hell." So I sat there and watched this man try to get us to look like fools for 2 1/2 hours then we left. So that was my week...
I hope you all have a good week.
Love always,
Elder Miles
Transfers were very interesting. It was weird leaving my first area that I have been in for 6 months. But Murrieta is super awesome. It is just like southern Utah. Just a little more sand and less rock. It is warmer during the day but cooler during the night. That is why I was wearing a jacket in that picture that you saw earlier this week with my new companion Elder Burandt. We have a couple investigators. Our biggest potential is Shanon (who is a guy). We had a lesson with him on Wednesday and he pretty much bore his testimony three times during the lesson. The only down side is they have been teaching him for 3 months and haven't even talked about baptism. So I brought it up and challenged him to a date...so we'll see.
On Saturday we had a dinner set up with a non-member who in the past has been a super big bible basher. His name is Jeff. Elder Burandt & I were sitting there & we hear the door bell ring and in walks a guy holding several bibles. He then walks right up to us and says, "Hi, I am a professor at the local Calvary Bible College and I am here to prove that you two are going to hell." So I sat there and watched this man try to get us to look like fools for 2 1/2 hours then we left. So that was my week...
I hope you all have a good week.
Love always,
Elder Miles
January 11, 2016 Baptism!! Transfers!! and DOG BITES...oh my!!!
THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!!! So of the day that we had 101 contacts last week... One of them came to church last week. His name is Angel. We had lessons with him on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We set him on date the next Monday for baptism on the 22 of January. Our requirement for our mission is that in order to be baptized they need to be to church twice. He came to church yesterday as well. Earlier in the week he had told us that he had a spiritual confirmation that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is true. While we were at church yesterday he asked us if he could be baptized on Jan 11. Which is TODAY!! MIRACLES! He has passed his interview and his baptism is tonight at 6. We are so excited. And he has asked me to baptize him. So what a great way to start off the transfer.
Other than that highlight of this week, we have been trying to contact a guy that we talked to a couple weeks ago. His name is Corey. He lives up a really steep hill and has a really long drive way. And a little white dog that weighs about 35 lbs. The first time we went to stop by Elder Rudd was charged by the dog as we were walking to the door. The dog went inside the doggy door and dissapeared. While we were walking down the long drive way we heard something running down the cement behind us and sure enough it was the dog growling and gnashing its teeth at us. But as soon as we turned around it stopped and ran away. Two days later we went by again. We were at the bottom of the driveway talking to somebody when we heard growling. And there it was, the same dog. We started walking up the driveway towards the dog and the owner of the house was there and started yelling at us to leave the dog alone. (there were a few more words that aren't appropriate to type up) so as we were walking down the driveway not even thinking of the dog, I felt a sharp pain on my ankle. And sure enough it was the dog. And just out of reaction I turned around and kicked it in the head. And it ran off yelping. Lucky enough the owner had gone back inside and didn't see or we would have probably, knowing californians, had the police called on us and would be sued for thousands of dollars. But we left pretty swiftly.
I am being transferred tomorrow. There aren't transfer meetings anymore so when they call us and tell us that we are being transfered they tell us where and who our companion is going to be. I will be going to the Murrieta Stake in the Winchester Ward. And my companion will be Elder Burandt.
Anyways, I will talk to you all next week.
Love always,
Elder Miles
Other than that highlight of this week, we have been trying to contact a guy that we talked to a couple weeks ago. His name is Corey. He lives up a really steep hill and has a really long drive way. And a little white dog that weighs about 35 lbs. The first time we went to stop by Elder Rudd was charged by the dog as we were walking to the door. The dog went inside the doggy door and dissapeared. While we were walking down the long drive way we heard something running down the cement behind us and sure enough it was the dog growling and gnashing its teeth at us. But as soon as we turned around it stopped and ran away. Two days later we went by again. We were at the bottom of the driveway talking to somebody when we heard growling. And there it was, the same dog. We started walking up the driveway towards the dog and the owner of the house was there and started yelling at us to leave the dog alone. (there were a few more words that aren't appropriate to type up) so as we were walking down the driveway not even thinking of the dog, I felt a sharp pain on my ankle. And sure enough it was the dog. And just out of reaction I turned around and kicked it in the head. And it ran off yelping. Lucky enough the owner had gone back inside and didn't see or we would have probably, knowing californians, had the police called on us and would be sued for thousands of dollars. But we left pretty swiftly.
I am being transferred tomorrow. There aren't transfer meetings anymore so when they call us and tell us that we are being transfered they tell us where and who our companion is going to be. I will be going to the Murrieta Stake in the Winchester Ward. And my companion will be Elder Burandt.
Anyways, I will talk to you all next week.
Love always,
Elder Miles
January 4, 2016 Hello and Happy New Years!!!
Hello and Happy New Years!!! This week went by way fast. I hope you guys set some good goals. In Elders Quorum yesterday we talked a little about SMART goals.
S - Specific. Knowing exactly what you are working towards
M - Measurable. Something you can see improvement from the beginning to the end.
A - Attainable. Something that you can reach, but will push you to become better.
R- Reachable. Same thing
T - Trackable. Something you can keep track of and see results.
Something that I have seen on my mission is that setting goals are so important to everything. They make you better at what you are trying to become. Something coach Tillet always told us is "we are never staying the same. We are either getting worse or getting better."
We need to stretch ourselves. And that is what I want to challenge you all to do. Set at least one goal that will stretch your abilities. But is within reason.
I am running out of time but I love you all. Awesome job MAYCEE and congratulations!!! I will talk to you all next week!
Love always,
Elder Miles
S - Specific. Knowing exactly what you are working towards
M - Measurable. Something you can see improvement from the beginning to the end.
A - Attainable. Something that you can reach, but will push you to become better.
R- Reachable. Same thing
T - Trackable. Something you can keep track of and see results.
Something that I have seen on my mission is that setting goals are so important to everything. They make you better at what you are trying to become. Something coach Tillet always told us is "we are never staying the same. We are either getting worse or getting better."
We need to stretch ourselves. And that is what I want to challenge you all to do. Set at least one goal that will stretch your abilities. But is within reason.
I am running out of time but I love you all. Awesome job MAYCEE and congratulations!!! I will talk to you all next week!
Love always,
Elder Miles
**Author's "liberties"...** 1/4/16
I thought it would be fun to add in a couple answers that Elder Miles responded to on some questions we had for him...
Nathan (Elder Miles' father): Hello Elder Miles, How are things in the new year, any new investigators? Saturday I prayed that as we were baptizing Maycee that you and Elder Rudd would find a “Golden Contact” any luck?
Elder Miles: So usually we contact about 20 - 30 people per day. Saturday we contacted 101 people and set up several lessons. So your prayer worked!! We currently hold the record for the year on contacts. Last year it was 106.
Amy (Elder Miles' mother): Quick question...How has food been when it gets to you? I'd like to send a bunch of cookies we've made, but wanted to see if they end up being a mess or stale by the time you get to open them...let me know, thanks!
Elder Miles:
Nathan (Elder Miles' father): Hello Elder Miles, How are things in the new year, any new investigators? Saturday I prayed that as we were baptizing Maycee that you and Elder Rudd would find a “Golden Contact” any luck?
Elder Miles: So usually we contact about 20 - 30 people per day. Saturday we contacted 101 people and set up several lessons. So your prayer worked!! We currently hold the record for the year on contacts. Last year it was 106.
Amy (Elder Miles' mother): Quick question...How has food been when it gets to you? I'd like to send a bunch of cookies we've made, but wanted to see if they end up being a mess or stale by the time you get to open them...let me know, thanks!
Elder Miles:
YES SEND COOKIES!!
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