SEND MOOLA!!!😂

So I got a text from a sweet sister in Vista, CA 9th ward telling me that our Elder Miles is wondering if we could deposit $ so he could buy some new shirts. I sent her back a message, "Thanks so much for being our modern day telegraph operator😃 I'll get money put in his account tomorrow. Maybe I should tell him (if he's by you) that for my banking services I require a photo of him flashing me an I LOVE YOU sign!!😂😂😂".......then I got......"THE PIC"!! I kinda, sorta, LOVE MODERN TECHNOLOGY!!👍😃😂 Elder Mangus, his companion, is helping him sport the bunny ears:)

San Diego Temple....AWESOME!!

June 27, 2016 We will still do all we can!!

Temple week!!!

Yes we were able to go to the temple this week. Tuesday we got a call from the AP's telling us that we had a last minute temple trip on Friday. So we had to find members to take us and it was kinda stressful but we did it! We got to the temple a little early so we did some initiatories for about 35 minutes before our session. That was a pretty cool experience because I haven't done those since I did my own. So something cool about the San Diego temple is that there are kind of 2 celestial rooms. The main one with a awesome staircase and chandeliers. And you are in one of the towers and when you look up it just looks like it goes on and on and on. When you go upstairs you go into the atrium room. It's shaped like the sign of Melchizedek with a glass room with all of these flowers and stuff. Super neat. That is also where the sealing rooms are, and while we were standing there a temple sealer came out and asked us to be witnesses for a sealing. I dont know if that is against the rules... but we were able to watch a temple sealing! That was a neat experience as well! There is no way that you can say that the church isn't true if you have felt the spirit like we did during the temple trip. Undeniable.

Even though we had an awesome day Friday, this week has been a real struggle. We still haven't found anybody to teach. It is pretty frustrating. But we've talked to the other missionaries and looked at some of the mission numbers and it looks like the whole mission is down. That still isn't an excuse but it's weird. We will still do all we can though!

President and Sister Kendrick leave this week. It's going to be a big change. They have done such a great job with our mission. I'm going to miss the Texas accent but I am excited to see what President and Sister Thomas have in store. They will be coming in on the 1st.

Well I've gotta get going, but I love you all and will talk to you next week!

Elder Miles

Hope...with a capital "H"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNqGqy5kbQ&sns=em

Sweet MEAT PIES!!!...or pork?...chicken??

Sister Mercier is so sweet to take these hungry missionaries to HAWAIIAN BBQ this past week! The smell alone may just be too much for our Elder Miles!!😄

June 20, 2016 "I would just like to challenge you to have FHE once a week!"

11 months! Dang! No words .. no words.

This week has been great! We actually had a couple dinners with some members. Well they were drop-offs but we are getting there! We texted Lexi on Wednesday and she said that when she turns 18 she will start taking the lessons again. Unfortunately that is at the end of the year, and I won't be able to teach her, but that will be awesome!

We still haven't found anybody to currently teach, but we are trying! The area we have has a lot of hills and this last week was especially  hard. It got really hot. But we knew that if we just kept pushing that something good would come from it. And we were able to get into some less-active member's houses. Then we got a call from some missionaries from a mission in Washington State telling us that their recent convert moved to our ward. So we get to teach her the new member lessons. So it payed off.  Heavenly Father really does bless those that do the hard thing.

This week I was reading from Teaching of the Prophets: Joseph Smith. And it was talking about eternal families. And I was pondering how great of a blessing that is. We are sent to this battle ground with only a couple tools. Scripture, prophets, prayer, the church, and families. The family plays such a huge roll in this life. It is so important that we do all we can to strengthen it. One of the biggest things I've learned on my mission is that family home evening is such a critical thing. We can go to church and we learn things. But when when we are taught in the home it means so much more. The home, if we do what we have been commanded to do, can be as spiritual and as peaceful as the celestial room in the temple. Especially when gospel principles are being taught by our parents and siblings during family home evening. So I would just like to challenge you to have FHE once a week. If you already are, great! Keep doing it! If not, start now. The blessings of having a close family and having the spirit in your home are huge.

Well I gotta get going. But I will talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Miles

Taking a quick break & a load off:) 

Pretty sure those long 'ol legs have s..t..r..e..t..c..h..e..d a bit longer!!

We were trying to determine if they came across a yard sale or if lazyboys are the preferred patio furniture in California?!😊

This flower is BEAUTIFUL!!

No idea what kind of flower or plant this is, but it is SO COOL!!....update here!! Found out that this is a flower from a passion fruit vine!! Thanks for the info Missionary Mommas!!😍

Bucking Bronco "Tina the Triceratops":)

Elder Miles did always like the Land Before Time movies when he was little!!😃

We've found out that "Tina the Triceratops" has made the rounds in the California, Carlsbad Mission. One of Elder Miles MTC Companions, Elder Groesbeck, found the stuffed animal in his first apartment in Vista & she's traveled around the mission & ended up in Oceanside where Elder Miles is serving currently.

Birds of a feather....

The smaller photo is a quail, but not sure what kind of bird Elder Miles is holding...thank goodness it doesn't have a rattle on it's tail though!!😆

June 13, 2016 "Still looking for people to teach..." (we're praying for you Elder!!)

Hello

This week was just another regular week in Vista!

Last Monday we did end up having a lesson with the 17 year old girl. It was super spiritual and she wanted us to come back today. However, even though her mom was ok with us meeting, when her dad found out, he was not ok with it. So we won't be meeting with her anymore. And the other referals from last week haven't worked out either. So we are still looking for people to teach.

This week I also went on exchanges with the Vista 1st ward. About 90% of it is Hispanic that don't speak any English. Or at least that's what they claim. Butttt it was a very interesting exchange. California has a lot of legit crazy people:) As we were walking around talking to people we ran into a girl in her late 20's outside of a house yelling and screaming at a guy inside the house. She was obviously mad at him. So she started beating the crap out of his truck and the house. We've been told to stay out of these situations & stand back just in case something violent happens. Somebody had already called the police, but we just wanted to stay until they got there. But we did end up leaving early. Because of the heat and her intense anger she started taking off all of her clothes. So we were pretty FAST to leave when she started that. But that was an interesting few minutes.

Then later that night another crazy homeless guy started talking to us and told us how he used to be a millionaire. And played in the NFL for the Raiders. And that he beat up Jerry Rice. Good guy hahaha.

Anyways we are gonna go play football now, but hope you all have a good week!

Love,
Elder Miles

Exchanges
Elder Martinez with Elder Miles

Elder Miles has some new THREADS:)

Yep! Elder Miles is looking SUPER pumped about running!!😂😄 hee hee!

Ta Da!!! More animal photos!!😄

June 6, 2016 Football, funny jokes & REFERRALS!!!

Hello hello!

This week we were able to see some awesome things happen!

1. There was a family that referred themselves on our online system that needed help moving into their new home in our ward. So we went and they asked for a Book of Mormon and we set up a time to come back and teach them this week. They seem like a super cool family. They only have one kid that is about 1 1/2 old.
2. The YSA missionaries were in our area this week and contacted 2 teenage girls that happened to have LDS friends. So they gave them all of their info and we have an appointment with them tonight. Hopefully their parents are ok with it, and that they are actually at their house.... because usually teenagers are pretty flaky:)
3. We were able to get a couple referrals from our members yesterday.

So things are looking up! We still don't have any actual investigators yet but we are working hard to get some. The weather here is a lot cooler than Murrieta. We have the marine layer (foggy clouds that come from the evaporating ocean) every day until about 1pm. So that keeps it fairly cool throughout the morning. And we have the nice ocean breeze throughout the day.

I think I said this last week, but Elder Mangus is such a funny guy. This week it was his "...just like my ex-wife" jokes. For instance, we were walking and there was this awful stench. So I said, "Man it stinks." And Elder Mangus said, "Yeah, just like my ex-wife." Or we were riding bikes and went into our apartment. And it was still warm in our apartment and I continued to sweat for about 10 minutes. So I said, "Holy crap I'm never going to stop sweating!" And he said, "Reminds me of my ex-wife." Haha he's just funny.

Anyways we are gonna go play football now so I will talk to you all next week!

Love,
Elder Miles

Fishermen....or FISHERS OF MEN:) this is so cute

https://youtu.be/NSPOkcsUwQ4