Hello, world!! How are you all doing this week? I hope you are well, cuddled up in a nice blanket and sipping some hot cocoa. It is starting to get really cold here in NYC. I am used to the cold to some degree. But when I go inside, usually I am met with warmth. Fun fact, in our apartment the heater can only be turned on from the superintendent of the building. And he doesn't have to turn it on until it is below freezing outside haha. Poor Sister Johnson was shaking like a leaf inside our house at the beginning of this week. I checked the temperature and it was 60 degrees inside our apartment. BRRRR is right! But the west elders had compassion for us and gave us their space heater. Now we don't have to study with our coats and winter beanies on. No more standing by the stove to be warm, we can just stand by a space heater! It's the little miracles, my friends.
This week was like none other. I swear I blinked and it was over! WHY IS TIME FLYING BY?? In fact, you all won't believe me but yesterday I hit 4 months. Isn't that the craziest thing you have ever heard? I can't believe it, but I feel so grateful to have had this time so far. Heavenly Father is so good. New York City is so good. The work is so good.
We have had many miracles this week. We had two amazing lessons with sweet Emma. Her brother Marvens joined the last lesson and told us he wants to learn about Jesus too! He asked us if that would be alright. Of course, we said yes! It is such a sweet privilege to meet with the two of them. Please pray for them as we continue to meet with them. They are the cutest kids ever!
We had an awesome lesson with Sybella this week. She had been going through some hard things before we met her and she is convinced that we are "her angels sent from God." She is the best. In our lesson, we were sharing the restoration of the gospel, and she could not stop smiling. As we shared the account of the first vision, she got a little teary-eyed. We asked her how she would feel if God spoke to her, and called her by name. She was overcome with emotion and shared that she would feel known, loved, and cared for. We promised her that God does know her by name and that He loves her. It was such a sweet experience. I know that is true for each and every one of us. God does know us, and not only does He know us, but He knows us by name. Heavenly Father is a one-by-one kind of Father. He cares for us on an individual basis and answers each and every prayer. I may not understand how it all works, but I do know that it does. He is always there and always listening. We love Sybella!
It was also my first holiday on the mission!! WOOT WOOT! Halloween could not have been more sweet. As some of you may have seen, Sister Johnson and I were super spooky and dressed up as each other for the day!! WILD STUFF! We also made some delicious pumpkin cookies which made it feel just like home. The best part of the day was not the cookies though, it was the miracle of finding our new friend Maxwell. We found him from Instagram and he is sooo awesome! He recently has moved across the country from his family and said he has been looking to find peace. You can bet Sister Johnson and I jumped on that one--peace is practically the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so excited to continue meeting with Maxwell and help him discover that peace for himself.
So many other amazing things happened this week, but if I shared them all this email would probably take 40 years to read. So I will keep it brief. One thing I have learned this week is that God truly does know me personally. He knows me by name, and He knows you by name. He is our Father, and there is nothing He would not do for us. Each and every day there is something that He gives us to remind us of His love for us, individually. I call it "manna." Because it really does keep me going, day to day. This week I noticed a few different "manna's" that reminded me that Heavenly Father knows me!
1) I got to talk to my friend Elder Bryant this week! We had a referral for Pakistan. HOW WILD IS THAT? It is a tender mercy.
2) One of my favorite authors David Butler came to speak to our mission!! What are the odds? It was a tender mercy.
3) I got to go to a recent coverts house on Halloween and she made me feel like I was home. I just felt so special and so loved by God. It was a tender mercy.
These are just a few, but I have seen Heavenly Father in my daily life as I have looked for Him. I promise that as you open your eyes to see Him, you will. His manna is all around us.
The last thing I want to share is a quick spiritual thought from the week. Like I mentioned, David Butler came to our mission to talk to us (virtually) and he shared something I really love. He spoke about Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. So many times in our lives we feel like we are "just a fisherman" or "just a tax collector" or maybe even "just a leper." We forget that Jesus Christ had time for everyone. He invited all to come. David Butler pointed out this simple truth: "There is room for you at His table." How beautiful is that? There is room for us at the table of Christ. He works with the imperfect and loves them. He has room for me and for you, and guess what--HE KNOWS YOU.
I know that is true. There is not only room for you, but He needs you.
I love this gospel and I know it is true with every part of my heart.
Be happy. Be brave. Be smart.
Love always,
Sister Miller
Pictures:
1) Central park :) too pretty
2) Brooklyn Bridge (SO DARN COOL)
3) Brooklyn Bridge
4) Okay more Brooklyn Bridge
5) I got the best package from Grandma!!
6) Subway Selfie
7) Just peace and love in Harlem
8) Victoria and her cute family :)
9) 4 MONTHS?? WHATTT? I can't believe time has flown by so fast!!
Hey!!
Welp. We went to Pinner's this week. I can’t even feel my feet. they hurt so bad. I bought a cute jumpsuit. I’m pretty excited about it. I’m thinking about buying a dress. Idk. It’s been a pretty uneventful week other than Pinner's. I finished all of my classes. I got a 98% in Galloway. That was exciting! I have Pre-Calc next quarter and I don’t have Smitchger because he isn’t teaching it this year. I even signed up to be his TA thinking it would help me. But now I might never have him. Sad day. I also have Miraya this quarter and he will be a party. I’m excited about that. Not for math tho. Idk. Sorry, this week hasn’t been super exciting. I love you. I hope New York is amazing!!!
Love,
Amber
Hey Little Sister Missionary,
How are you? Things going well? I hope so. I know I already sent you a message this week, but it was short, so I am sending another. As you will note, it is not Sunday. Well, you are reading this on Sunday, so it kind of is Sunday. But did not write on Sunday. I think this is a win.
Let's get straight to the good news. BYU trashed BSU last night if football. Total beat down on their dumb blue turf. Totally funny. You should be proud. Your school is ranked 9th in the country right now. ManU also won today. Beat Everton (who was at the top of the table) 3-1. Very nice. ManU also lost a champions league game to some crappy team from Turkey. Not nice. United is maddening to follow right now. They don’t seem to play with much heart. Texas won. Jake and I did not watch. We have decided watching is bad luck.
Mom and Amber went to pinners this week. Jake and I were left home alone. One day he went to Christy Bill's house to do homework, the other two days he basically laid around and did nothing because he had no school. We ate junk and watched Jurassic World movies. I think he thought it was heaven. I did parent-teacher conferences. It was great because Jake has straight A's and all his teachers love him. I am sure my mom felt the same after visiting with my teachers. Ha Ha. I got grounded every time after parent-teacher conferences. Well, at least when I was in Jr. High.
So you got anyone in the ready to baptize pool? Keep your chin and faith up. Great things are going to happen. Jake and I will pray for your friends to come to church tomorrow. I remember at times, on my mission, thinking things were going slowly. That I was tired of situations that seemed to not changing. It would seem like time was crawling. But I found if I just kept working hard, I would suddenly turn around and weeks had passed and situations had changed. It really did seem to fly by. You are so blessed to be serving now. One day, you will be able to say you were on your mission when everything changed, and that you helped change it. That is really exciting.
Jake says “Hi.”
Keep kicking butt. I would write more, but there is football on and your mom is not home to make me turn it off.
Love you lots!
HayBay,
This week has been an exhausting emotional whirlwind. As you know, I haven't been well. We were waiting for test results, which finally came through as me having C-Diff. I am on an antibiotic again and hoping for miracles. On Wednesday, I got in the car and drove with Amber to PinnersConference in Utah. I had started feeling sick (other than my constant diarrhea) on Tuesday a little on Monday, but I chalked it up to just being exhausted. We went to Pinners and my illness grew. At this point, I didn't know that I had CDiff. I just knew I wasn't feeling good in the stomach area, but now also in the sinus area. I worked my tail off and with each new day, my symptoms increased. It wasn't until Saturday that I finally wondered if I had something other than my other issues. I kept getting a scratchy throat and cough attacks (imagine that at Pinners). At first, I really thought I was just dehydrated. And then on Saturday, I woke up with a little bit of a stuffy nose. It was clear and didn't show any signs of an infection, but already being exhausted from CDiff--I felt like a mess.
Not knowing what to do, I asked Michelle if I should still help, and she said it was just a cold since I just got tested. I took some DayQuil and chose to go to work. I am not sure if this was a good decision or not. I definitely do not want to ever get anyone sick. Everyone at the conference--including me--was masked. I suffered through Saturday. And then woke up this morning and drove home. I am still crossing my fingers that I am really okay, but every once in a while I have a coughing fit that convinces your dad that I have COVID. I am hoping he is wrong.
I am sitting here at the computer typing this letter with a mask on. I don't want to hurt anyone. I canceled all of my meetings or made them virtual for today, and here I sit.
My optimistic side was convinced that my illness was simply just a continuation of my already existing illness. I am tired. And I feel a bit worn. I am supposed to fly to Arizona on Wednesday, but I don't know if I can if I still feel sick. If we weren't living in a world full of COVID, I would chalk it up to a cold and go about my daily life. Now, Brayn wants to get me tested. This will be my third test. I feel like that doesn't help Idaho flatten the curve. What if I do have COVID? Is it better to just hunker down and see how I feel, or is it better to get tested and see if I can board a plane or not?
All these thoughts. I think I am looking forward to my meetings being over and then sleeping. I can choose to be positive or sad. I am going to keep trying to be positive. I will choose cheer. And happy. And gratitude. I will. I really will.
I can't wait to talk to you tomorrow.
Love you bunches,
Mom
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