Sept. 26, 2016 "Johnathan, you were just taught by the Spirit."

Family,

Not getting transferred. Chilling in the dirty dido for another transfer! Keeping the Dido dirty.....

Not really much else is exciting. A missionary jacked his face up ice skating last week. He started slipping and then locked his legs and just face planted into the ice. He got some stitches but he is doing better. It really sucked for him. But he is super dark and brooding (or so he tries to be). He basically wants to be batman. So he has actually been happier lately because his face has been jacked up. Pretty funny.

We have a few investigators right now. A lot of them are super busy with school and stuff so it is hard to meet up with them, but we have 2 that could become super solid.

Our investigator, Johnathan, that wants to get baptized is not being able to because his mom said he can't until his bday in April, but we are going to have a fast for his mom in 2 weeks.

Johnathan sent us a scripture this morning from 1 Nephi 22:26: And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth."

He said "To me it means that no matter how hard Satan attackes you, you will always be able to overcome it. It really stuck out to me because I have many forms of evil attack me everyday but the power of the gospel never lets it hurt me."

"Johnathan, you were just taught by the Spirit."

That was really cool. It just goes to show how powerful the Book of Mormon really is and how it doesn't matter where you are at or what verse you are reading that you can still receive revelation from it. Further witnesses along with my own that the Book of Mormon is true.

Otherwise, we are going to make some baptisms happen this transfer!!! BOOM!

Elder Miles

Dinner at the Rush home💗😊👍

Yep. Luckily it isn't my bike....

So this is what happened: (we were on exchanges). I  was with another missionary (my grandson, elder Urey) driving home at night with our bikes on our bike rack. We were driving on the highway and we heard a "woosh." I looked back and said to the other missionary, "Woah, is your bike gone?." We pull off at the next exit and then a car behind us flags us down and says to us, "You guys just lost a bike" and drives off. So we flip around and look for it and find it in this state. Apparently it got run over by a car too. Bahahahahaha. Shredded.

Luckily, it wasn't mine....

Sept 19, 2016 "The cool part is you're not just preparing just for your mission....you are preparing for your life"

Whats up everybodyyyy?

It was awesome to hear that everybody is doing good back home! Hayden tearing it up in football and making most of the playing time that he got.  Then Miranda BEAST MODING against North Summit in volleyball.  Letting 'em know that SSHS don't go down easy!  That really made me happy.  And good job to Maycee for leading out in FHE!  It's definitely important that we prepare for our missions starting young.  There are too many people that start their mission unprepared and it takes them 6 months to finally figure it out.  Start now!  And you can start harvesting even before your mission!  Something I wish I would have done.  And the cool part is you're not just preparing just for your mission.  But you are preparing for your life.  The habits you make now (scripture reading, praying morning, throughout the day, and at night, family home evening, participating in church/seminary, and sharing the gospel with others) will affect you the rest of your life.  That's why we need to start young. So good job Maycee!

Johnathan didn't end up getting baptized this week.  He is still 17 and his mom wouldn't allow him to until he was 18.  Which will be in April.  He was really bummed that his mom wouldn't let him.  He is a great guy.  Us, and a few other members of our ward are going to have a group fast this week for his mom to soften her heart.  We also weren't able to meet with Kyle this week.  He has been pretty inconsistent with appointments and responding to texts and phone calls.  But we did finally meet with a guy that we had been trying for a few weeks now.  His name is Anthony.  He seemed closed off at the beginning of our lesson, just by saying that he wouldn't ever come to church because of experiences in the past at other churches.  But towards the end he opened up to us.  Commited him to read and pray.  He couldn't come this week just because of plans he had already made.  But said he would this coming Sunday.  We have another lesson this week so we will see how he is doing on praying and reading.

So because Elder Nokes and I are the ZL's we are asked to do a lot of administrative stuff.  Like giving blessings to missionaries and members all over the stake.  On Friday we were asked to give a blessing to a guy in the ER at the hospital.  So we go in and this guy is getting released from the hospital.  But doesn't have a ride.  And doesn't want a blessing until he gets home.  Which we later find out that it is like 35-40 miles north of the hospital.  Which is still in our zone.  But we never go out there.  Simply it is just wayyy too far away.  And nobody really lives out there, but he can't find a ride so we end up taking him.  And the whole drive he was barfing.  Luckily it was just water that he was throwing up.  And he had a special bag that the hospital gave to him to throw up in.  But it was making me dry heave as well just hearing him.  Blahhhhh.  Then we finally get out to where he lives and it's this run down trailer park.  Like way run down.  Like I could see people dying there and people would never know.  Or even care.  This was the boonies on steroids.  Like this would be the perfect place to hide a body.  Because nobody would ever find it!  But we ended up giving him a blessing and leaving and almost running out of gas.  But just barely made it to a gas station. That was crazy.  

Well anyways.  I enjoyed golf last week.  I am waiting to get the pictures.  I should be able to send them later today.  Then we are going ice skating today with our zone.  That will be fun!  So I gotta get running now.  But I love you all!

Elder Miles

Halloween is early for Elder Miles this year!!😄😂😄

   

Sept 12, 2016 "The gospel has already become a part of his life..."

Well I don't have a lot of time today. Today is Elder Nokes birthday.  We are going to grill up some steaks then go play golf with San Marcos ZL's, Fallbrook ZL's, and the AP's.  Should be fun.  

Things that happened this week:

Well the highlight of this week was we went on exchanges with the AP's.  They now serve in the Vista YSA ward.  So I was able to go back to my first area for a day!  We were able to see Lily Rodriguez.  The girl Elder Wight and I baptized almost exactly a year ago.  She seemed like she has kind of gone off the deep end over the last couple months.  It was sad to see.  But it was good to see her.  

Johnathan is still working towards being baptized this Saturday.  He was sick this whole week, so we weren't able to meet with his mom at all. So, just so it is fair for her, we might push his date to next week.  But he is still 100% into it.  We were able to finish everything that needs to be taught before his baptism last night.  He already seems like a member.  The gospel has already become a part of his life.  He of course still has struggles but whenever he tell us things he pretty much just bares his testimony of Christ and how He is helping him with whatever is going on.  It's pretty cool.

We also picked up this guy named Kyle last night.  He has been going to a pretty well known Christian church, North Coast Church.  Which in the past I personally have not had good experiences with.  But he is actually willing to listen and to take our challenges.  He told us that what his pastor told him about us was almost completely wrong.  And that what we teach makes complete sense.  We set him on date for the 31st of September.  We are going to be meeting with him on Wednesday.  So we will see how his is doing then.  

Well that's about it for this week.  Also Dallas Stanley will be coming home in about 3 weeks! We've been emailing off and on.  I remember when he left! Time has gone by way fast!  Anyways I gotta get going now. Love you all!

Elder Miles

 

Sept. 5, 2016 Reading, praying & coming to church...

Well what can I say? Another week in Escondido. 
I guess the highlight of this week was that we had MLC (mission leadership council). Where the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders meet with the AP's (ape's) and President and Sister Thomas.  We discussed the new "Standard of Excellence" that we wanted to set for the new vision that President Thomas has for the mission.  We wanted to set something that would stretch us all.  The goal that we all agreed on was one baptism per companionship every month.  There are a few other details that go along with that.  But I am excited to see how the mission changes over the next few months.  It should be pretty sweet.

We taught Jonathan a few times this week.  He is still doing awesome with his Book of Mormon reading and praying and coming to church.  And has a strong testimony.  The only thing that we need to work on now is helping his mom feel comfortable about it.  She feels like he's jumping into it too fast. He is still progressing towards the 17th though and can't wait.  We will be meeting with his mom here in the next few days just so she can get to know us.  We will see how it plays out.

We were able to teach Day for the first time this week.  He's a pretty cool guy.  And he's black haha.  We contacted him in a super nice apartment complex near our institute building.  We aren't necessarily sure on how elect he is.  Or whether he just doesn't understand what we are saying.  He talks with a strong gangster slang so it's even hard for us to understand him too haha. So we are still trying to figure him out.  

Well we gotta get headed out. I'll send some pics of Elder Nokes and I because Mom was complaining to me. Haha jk. Love ya!

Elder Miles

....authors note....I don't believe I've been "complaining" to Elder Miles😝, but in my defense, the only picture we received was this one from a nice member of the YSA Ward where he & Elder Nokes are serving

Christian Wallace from the YSA Ward in San Marcos, CA snapped this photo of our missionary...."I have had the awesome opportunity to be served by this great guy here. We all love having him around... rest assured that Elder Miles is alive & well!"

Aug. 29, 2016 The blessings of missionary work are infinite!

Man oh man, just another great week.  I really forgot just how fun YSA work is!  Literally a huge difference from family wards.  Just non stop things to do. 

This week we didn't have very many lessons with investigators, but we did have a couple.  We were mainly able to get in with less-actives and recent converts.  One of our recent converts name is Mike.  He was baptized just about 3 weeks ago.  He is so solid and shares the gospel like crazy.  If there is an example of member missionary work it is him.  We give him like 10 pass-along cards a week and he gives them out to anyone he feels inspired to.  We haven't had any luck with it yet, but sooner or later we are bound to pick someone up from him. 

Another less-active member we taught this week is Michael.  He has been a member his whole life but went in-active around 18.  He's 28 now.  He called us up on Tuesday and asked to meet with us. When we met up with him he told us how he has been seeing the Lord's hand in his life lately.  And how he needs to start coming back to church.  How he was homeless and found a job and then somebody offered him free rent on a house, as long as he took care of the property. Then he found his Book of Mormon and said that that was a sign to him that God was allowing him to get back onto his feet just enough to make some decisions on his own.  So he made the decision to call us.  Good decision!  He came to church this week and seems to be doing great. 

We did have a couple lessons with Jonathan this week. He is still on date for the 17th of September.  He is really progressing.  He has an awesome comprehension of the Book of Mormon.  We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end.  Then the Plan of Salvation, and then yesterday we just read a chapter of the Book of Mormon.  1 Nephi 4 or 5.  I can't really remember.  But he is doing super well.  He is excited to be baptized.  His fellowshipper is doing a great job. Reading the Book of Mormon with him.

This week we had Elder De Hoyos of the first quorum of the seventy visit our mission.  We were able to have 4 meetings with him. One: Elder Nokes and I had an MLC (mission leadership council) meeting with him with the other leadership of the mission.  We just basically taught him about how we run as a mission.  That was Thursday.  Then Friday we met in a Zone conference.  It was our zone the Escondido zone, San Marcos Zone, Del Mar Zone, and Carlsbad Zone.  He talked a lot about true conversion and how the Book of Mormon is key to it.  How we need to read the Book of Mormon EVERY day.  It is the key stone of our religion.  He quoted Joseph Smith, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the MOST CORRECT of ANY book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and that a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."  And I was thinking, "Why wouldn't you read it every day? If it brings you closer to God.  And if it is the only 100% correct book on the whole entire earth, why wouldn't you read it every, single, day."  Then we also met with him at our Stake Conference.  Our stake presidency was re-organized on Sunday.  We had 2 general authorities there.  Elder De Hoyos, and Elder Acosta.  Both of the seventy.  Elder De Hoyos talked about basically the same thing.  Elder Acosta talked about the importance of member missionary work.  How as missionaries we are called to teach and to baptize.  But the members are to find people to teach for the missionaries.  And I think both of those topics mesh together perfectly.  If you read the Book of Mormon every day, and if you are truly converted to the Lord, you will WANT to share our message.  If you don't, you simply are not converted.  And that's the difference between missionaries and members. We read every day.  Most members don't.  And if you do, are you really taking in what you are learning and applying it?  That is why missionary work is so easy for missionaries.  We see the blessings of reading every day and we want to share it. Missionaries go home and just stop reading.  That is why members are scared or uncomfortable sharing the gospel.  But its there. 

So I guess that's the challenge I want to leave with you guys.  To read the Book of Mormon every single day.  Then to have one gospel conversation a week with a non member. Even if you live in Utah.  You all know one and the odds are you are thinking of one right now.  Ask the missionaries for help if you need.  I'm sure they will be more than happy to give you ideas.  The blessings of missionary work are infinite! Well I gotta get going now. Talk to ya next week!

Love

Elder Miles

UTAH!!!!.....Escondido style!!

Elder Miles found HOME SWEET HOME on the streets of Escondido!!😊

The house that ELVIS built!!!😆

Hard to believe, but apparently this is really someone's house. That is what is called "being a fan"!!!😃

Aug. 22, 2016 Having a great time in Escondido!!

Woahhh! What a week it was! Elder Nokes and I are having a blast here in the Palomar YSA ward!  We have a bunch of super solid members and people to teach!  Elder Nokes is a really a great guy.  He's from Virginia near DC.  He's been out just a little longer than me. About 16 months.  I'm still a little confused as to what actually happened this week.  I remember teaching people and stuff like that but it flew by so fast and and basically is just a blur now.  But I will try to remember haha.

Well first off: Tuesday was transfer day and we met up with Elder Nokes and the San Marcos ZL's.  Elders' Miles (the 1st...there's 2 of us:) and Wilson.  Because we were taking a trainer and his greenie back to Escondido.  So we put all of our stuff in the San Marcos ZL's car.  Apparently I pack like a Sister haha.  They were making fun of me for having so much stuff.  I don't know where it all came from!  It just appeared out of nowhere!  But its everything I need.  Oh well. 

Then Wednesday night we went to institute.  I met the bishop and was told I was going to meet our ward mission leader as well. But he wasn't there before or during.  But after class a guy walked up to us and asked, "Where did the other guy go that was teaching me?" So we explained exchanges to him as if he was a non member.  But he asked if we could teach him that night and of course we said yes.  So about 10 minutes later we went into the library and taught him.  Awesome lesson! We applied every training we had taken in the past couple months.  Super solid.  Then we set him on date for baptism, bore our testimonies and closed the lesson.  He stands up and says, "Good lesson elders." Shakes our hands then sits down with kind of a smirk on his face. Then he told me he was the ward mission leader! Blaahhhhhhh!! Haha it was so funny.  He did a really good job role playing.  Then I thought back to earlier to when we were getting out of the car to go into the building and Elder Nokes grabbed some pamphlets and I asked if we were going to be teaching a lesson.  And he said most likely.  Then I asked, "Like, non members?"  And he said, "...sure." Hahahaha.  I got played hard! 

I can't remember what day this was. But we taught a guy named Jacob in a super Hipster coffee shop.  The vibes were good in there haha.  Our lesson went well even though we were in a coffee shop.  He is super catholic but had some really good questions that we were able to answer.  He is willing to meet again but has finals this week and then will be back home in Texas for a few more weeks.  So we won't see him for about another month or so.  So keep him in your prayers.

We also picked up a new investigator yesterday.  His name is Jonathan.  He is friend of a member in our ward.  His life has been pretty rough up to this point.  His parents are separated and on drugs.  So he has now moved out and is living with this kid and his family.  He has definitely been prepared to hear the restored gospel.  We had a super spiritual lesson with him.  He accepted a date to be baptized 3 weeks from now.  He has already been reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church.  We taught him to pray.  Awesome kid.  We have a lesson with him tomorrow night.  I'm super stoked for it. 

Well this is probably the longest email I have ever sent in my life.  And we need to get going now but I love you all!

Elder Miles

Tennis anyone??!!!😄

P-day morning tennis match!! Sister Goshai & her daughter Maya, along with Brayden Milliner & Elders Quinney, Draper, Woolsey & Miles

Elder Miles, Brayden Milliner, Elder Woolsey

Aug. 15, 2016 "Super excited to see what the future holds!!!"

Yes today is my 13 month mark and time is flying by faster than I can believe it! Hopefully it slows down a little bit. I am being transferred tomorrow to Escondido in the Palomar YSA ward. The ward covers both Escondido and San Marcos zones. The elders teach the guy investigators and the sisters teach the girl investigators. Palomar College campus is within that area so that is why we are named after the college. I am super excited to be in YSA again!!! It's going to be so much fun!

I also received a call from President Thomas this week and he would like me to serve as a Zone Leader as well. That is also exciting. My companion is Elder Nokes. I think that's how you spell it. I have only met him a few times and I don't know anything about him either. So we will find out throughout this upcoming week.

I don't know if you remember me mentioning Stephanie last week. Well we were supposed to have a lesson with her and that fell through. Then we asked her to come to a baptism that some other missionaries were having. She said she would, then never came haha. And wouldn't answer her phone. And still hasn't since then. So not really sure where that is going to go.

A returned missionary named Brayden Milliner came back to visit the mission. He served here in our ward about a year and a half ago. He took us to a former investigator that he taught while he was here and we had a pretty good lesson. His name is Tom and he is pretty old and from what I saw, he can't really walk or do anything on his own. But he's super funny. We set up a return appointment for Wednesday. Unfortunately I won't be there, but I hope everything goes well!

Well I gotta get going but I'm super excited to see what the future holds!!!

Love,
Elder Miles

**Vista Zone**

We ARE...

In what Elder Miles (top row 2nd in on left) is calling "boy band" fashion the Sisters & Elders of the California Carlsbad Mission-Bobier District pose for a photo!! These sons & daughters are exceeding any expectations that they or their parents could've only dreamed. Their amazing courage to allow themselves to be stretched physically, emotionally & spiritually...their determination to GO & DO...their obedience & love for our Savior that truly testifies that "WE ARE AS THE ARMY OF HELAMAN"

We'll Bring the World His Truth
(vs.2 "We have been saved for these latter days
To build the kingdom in righteous ways.
We hear the words our prophet declares:
"Let each who's worthy go forth and share." We are as the army of Helaman.
We have been taught in our youth.
And we will be the Lord's missionaries
To bring the world his truth."
Words and music: Janice Kapp Perry, b. 1938. (c) 1983

Bobier District photos...

Now this is a good lookin' group!!

Aug. 8, 2016 Who knows...maybe we could get a lesson in while playing ball!!😆

Hello!

This week was pretty weird!  Not a whole lot happened early.  But we were finishing up Thursday night and saw about 12 guys or so playing a game of football in one of the parks in our area.  They were all black so they looked at us kind of weird when we asked if we could play, but they let us.... Maybe we could get a lesson in.  And as we were playing some other guys from Texas jumped in as well.  But as we were playing one of the kids from Texas went for a super deep pass and ended up catching the ball....... as he ran into a pole.  He split his eyebrow open.  Literally looked like hamburger.  You could see the tendon that lifts your eye brows.  Super gross but awesome at the same time.  The ambulance came and got him then we left.  But that was crazy.

We taught a girl this week named Stephanie.  She is 27 and has a kid that is about 4.  She is pretty shy and wasn't comfortable coming to church this week.  But our lesson went super smooth.  She really has a desire to grow closer to God.  We have another lesson with her on Wednesday.  So we will see if she has been reading and praying.

Well I love you guys.  Thanks for all you do! I got to go but I will talk to you next week!

Love Elder Miles

Dinner with the Norris Family
Sister Robinson & Sister Catenza, 

Elder Miles & Elder Woolsey

These hungry Elders have it PRI-TEE GOOD!!!

Mercier family does it again!!! They are saving Elder Miles & Elder Woolsey from starvation!😄😁😂 These missionaries sure get the royal treatment from amazing members in Vista, CA!!💞

Speak into the microphone...

Singing A cookie-dough seranade!!😝

Elder Miles asked Sister Mercier to send this photo to his Aunt Heather (via his mom)...Cookie Dough Ice cream cones reminds him of going to Jazz games together with Aunt Heather😊💞

Getting packages from HOME!!💞

Thanks to Alexx Summers for taking packages to our boys!! She was here in Utah for a family reunion & delivered surprises to several missionaries when she returned home to Vista👍😄

Elder "Uhhhh" & Elder "What are you doing?"

😄😂😄

Elder "Smiley" -n- crew😁

Thanks Alexx Summers for "running into" these guys & snappin' some photos!!😄

Aug. 1, 2016 .......? ........?? .........???!!!

Such a good thing that this Elder Miles has a pretty cute face....very easy to be forgiving😊 He was busy & didn't get an email or pictures sent this week, but some VISTA ANGELS sent me photos!!!👍😘 Thanks so much Sister Summers & Sister Goshai!!

Wendy Goshai sent this with a note, "Your boy cooking up a storm for us and the other Elders. He's doing a good job."😊

Another great dining experience!!

Vista 9th ward members, as well as so many amazing families throughout the California Carlsbad Mission😍 are so willing to feed these missionaries...& send photos!! Thank you so much!!

July 25, 2016 Thanks for the LOVE SUPPORT & LETTERS!!:)

Happy Pioneer Day!!

Well it has been another fantastic week workin' in the California heat. We were able to teach a couple lessons this week. So the guy that came to church is super cool. His name is Toby. He is super elect. We showed up to his place and he told us that he already wanted to be baptized. He had searched mormon.org and lds.org and just knew that it was true. So we taught him the restoration and set him on date for baptism. Now the unfortunate part was that when we found his address, he lives outside of our area. So we passed him off to the Vista 3rd ward missionaries. Then we had another lesson with a guy named Fazard. He had been taught before by missionaries but they never updated his teaching record. So we didn't know what he had been taught or what his background was. So we show up, he's super nice. We sit down and ask if we can start with a prayer and he says, "no." Then goes on to say how he is atheist and doesn't want to join or anything, just wants to know our history and beliefs. So we did teach him a little bit but it went nowhere. But hey at least we are teaching some lessons! We are super stoked about that!

We also have been working with our members a lot to get missionary work going. We currently have 3 families that are sharing the gospel with their friends and see some improvement. It's awesome to see how much happiness sharing the gospel does bring to those that do it. I will update you more next week on how things are going with that.

Something I want to invite you all to keep in mind this week: Elder Walkenfuss, a Spanish speaking missionary in our mission, his mom passed away Thursday morning completely unexpected due to a blood clot. His father also passed away a few years ago. I don't know all of the details, whether or not he has grandparents, but please just keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. I'm not exactly sure if he's going home or not.

I received all of the letters from the Miles fam last p-day in my year mark package. Thanks to you all for the love and support. It really means a lot, and really gives a boost in energy mentally and physically. So thank you!

Well I have to get running now but I will talk to you all next week!

Love,
Elder Miles

Dinner at Griffiths' home!!😄

(Sister Alesha Griffiths is Vista 9th RS president)

Love that they're taking such good care of these boys!👍😄

Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter!! Look what I got to hand out this week!!

Elder Miles' grandparents served in Moscow, Russia 6 years ago & he was given the opportunity to give out a Russian Book of Mormon this past week!

Photo FUN!!

Favorite evening snack...

Repelling....sort of😄 

P-day hike

July 18, 2016 1 YEAR!!

Well it has definately been a good ride here in Carlsbad, California this year. I've had nothing but GOOD experiences. I could probably go through all of my experiences and pick out all of the "bad" ones. But you can't really call them bad. Because every single thing that has happened on my mission has been a learning experience. And that is a GOOD thing. After all it is the reason why we are here. I feel I have grown more this year than my whole life combined. I've grown Spiritually, Mentally, Physically and probably in a lot more ways that I can't see. And I know that very little if none of that would have happened if I didn't go on a mission.

Something that I have seen is there is no better way to learn than by applying gospel principles and Christlike attributes. And I know that everything that I have grown in has been a blessing because I strive to do what the Lord has asked. D&C 130:21 "And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon that which it is predicated." And I don't want to sound self-righteous or prideful, but I have obeyed the commandments that God has given me. And I have seen how it has blessed my life. I have given up a lot, but have received more.

Mark 10:28-30 "28. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's. 30. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." 
I have seen this. I know that you don't have to be a set apart full time missionary to see this. So what I would like to challenge you to do is to find something that you can change. Something hard. Something that will stretch you. And do it, and I can promise that if you are sincere, God will bless you. Odds are you already know what needs to change.

This week we set up lessons with former investigators and we found a new potential. We have a lesson with him tomorrow. He just showed up at church and told us he wants to have a better relationship with Christ! He is super cool. So we will see how this one goes.

Well I gotta get running but I hope you all have a good week!

Love,
Elder Miles

July 15, 2016 Happy Birthday Mom

This calls for ICE CREAM

Sister Alyssa Mercier took some photos of Elder Miles & Elder Woolsey celebrating 

Elder Miles year mark & wishing his momma a happy birthday!!:)

Apparently Elder Miles forgot to grab some napkins after he dunked his face...

Elder Woolsey's face is priceless!!

July 15, 2016 YEAR MARK....WHHAAATT??!!!!😮

I cannot believe this boy of ours was dropped off "CURB-SIDE" 1 year ago today! I remember the night before, it was late once we had everything ready to go, but still Nathan, Ethan & I settled in to watch the movie "The Best Two Years" (a request of Elder Miles😊) We ended up on Nathan's & my bed to watch it & all 3 of us fell asleep...so I got to snuggle my "baby boy" the night before he left💞 Elder Miles would be mortified if he knew I told anyone that let alone post it on his blog😮 That's my calling in life....to nuture my children & embarrass the heck out of them at the same time!!😄 I hope I can grow & learn this next year like our missionary has done this last year. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Elder Miles' favorite scripture)

A YEAR IN REVIEW...

The different FACES of Elder Miles!!

Love this SMILE!!!

Companions through the year....BROTHERS FOR LIFE!!!

First Issue of "Elders Weekly"😆

New Companions - Elder Miles & Elder Woolsey

MISSIONARY LINGO!! "Grandpa, Father, Son"...

Elder Miles, Elder Rudd & Elder Adams (left to right - Elder Rudd sent this photo to his mom & she forwarded me a copy, thanks Toby!!)

Elder Miles was Elder Rudd's trainer & Elder Adams is a greenie for Elder Rudd to train...so in MISSIONARY terms they apparently say
GRANDPA Miles, FATHER Rudd
& SON Adams

July 11, 2016 YEAR MARK this week for Elder Miles!!😮😄

Well this week has been just another fantastic week.  We worked super hard because we are sick of not having any investigators.  We didn't pick any up, but we did however find a couple potentials.  One of them seems super solid.  He has family that are members and knows a lot about the church.  We don't think that he understood that we wanted to teach him haha, but his family that are members are coming down to visit and he said we can come by and invite them to church.  So we are going to get in a lesson then.

We also caught a super cool lizard this week.  It's called an Alligator lizard.  It was right outside our apartment so we took it inside for a couple minutes.  It's like 9 inches long and eats just about everything that moves haha.  

I'll also hit my HUMP DAY this week!!! Dang time flies by when you're having fun.  I've definitely had fun out here in California! 

Well we are gonna go play basketball now but I will talk to you all next week!

Love,
Elder Miles

Elder Miles with new companion Elder Woolsey!

Elder Miles didn't get any pictures sent😳, so YAY for amazing Vista 9th ward members who sent a few photos!!😄👍