Goodbye Manhattan

I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seat as you read this email. Your brow glistens with a little bit of sweat as you realize that Sister Miller will no longer be serving on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. You look over your notes of potential places she could be transferred. The Bronx, Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn, Westchester, or Staten Island. 

WELL, THE WAIT IS OVER! I am going to Lynbrook on Long Island!! I am sooo excited. But I would be lying to you all if I didn't say that I am also very sad. My heart aches as I leave this wonderful area, filled with my wonderful people, with a wonderful ward and a wonderful companion. This place has become my home away from home. But I am excited to make Lynbrook my new home. 

This week was jam-packed with miracles on top of miracles. We had the privilege of talking to our girl Bianca this week who just didn't seem to be progressing. Right before our lesson, Sister Johnson said that she felt like we should put her on date. As soon as she said that, I knew that was the right thing to do. As we followed the spirit, we had one of the most simple, but beautiful lessons. We asked her if she would like to prepare for baptism, to which she said--"Yes, what do I need to do. Can I start now?" My heart was so happy. It was amazing to see that as we follow the Spirit, we can be led to help others draw closer to our Savior. 

We also had the baptism of Tierra this week. It was such a special day. Tierra had to be baptized 3 times in order to be fully immersed, but despite the difficulty, the spirit was so strong and she was so happy. She was practically glowing. After her baptism, I asked her how she felt and she said, "This was the second-best day of my whole life!!" When I asked her about the first, she said, "Well my birth has to be the best day right?" She was so cute and so happy. This baptism was 2 years in the making and she was so ready to make these covenants with God. I am so happy to see her continue to grow and follow Jesus Christ. It truly was a beautiful day. I think my favorite part of it all was seeing the ward members rally around her as she made this commitment. She came to her baptism without any friends or family there to support her but left with a ward family that would be there to cheer her on. I love this gospel for so many reasons, but one reason I love it is that we are all united. All people are invited to come and partake of the heavenly gift together, and I love that.

Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to the ward. My heart hurt with each one. Myrna, an older woman who gave me a scarf when I looked cold. Margaret, who gave me pearls to wear to the temple next week. Sara, who willingly brought food for us several times over the last few weeks. Victoria, who gave more love than I thought was physically possible. Tears streamed down my face as I said goodbye to each of these wonderful women. This ward really did become my family. I am so grateful. My mission has given me some wonderful gifts, but one that I will forever cherish is the gift of friendship.

Speaking of friendship, tomorrow I will have to say goodbye to Sister Johnson. I can't believe our time together is already over. Sister Johnson has made me laugh till I cry, see the good in every situation, and believe in everyday miracles. Sister Johnson has become one of my very best friends. Saying goodbye tomorrow will not be an easy thing. But I guess that is something to be grateful for. I don't know where I would be without such an amazing companion as her. Heavenly Father has been so so good to me. 

For my spiritual thought this week I wanted to share something by Richard G Scott about prayer. "What do you do when you have prepared carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a reasonable time for a response, and still do not feel an answer? You may want to express thanks when that occurs, for it is evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust." I love this. Sometimes we aren't given all the answers and that's okay. It can be seen as a sign of God's trust in us. Action is such a big and important part of God's plan. I am grateful that God has trusted me enough to try new things, learn, and grow from my mistakes and continue to become better day after day on this mortal journey. Life will never be perfect, but it can definitely be beautiful as we seek Him, ask for His guidance, and proceed with faith. 

I love this gospel. If you ever want to receive more peace and happiness in your life, message me. Let's talk. This is what brings joy beyond measure--of that, I am sure. 

I love you all!! Don't forget it.

Be happy. Be brave. Be smart.

Love always,

Sister Miller 

PS: In a week from today, I will get to go through the temple with my family. I could not be more excited. What a wonderful blessing :)

PICS:

1-3) the Manhattan bridge 

4) snow in the city (& my last time at the manhattan temple)

5) Sis Johnson and I in East Harlem 

6-9) Tierra's baptism!!!

Hey!
I have to tell you. I am getting so so excited to see you. Such a special day coming. I can’t say enough how thrilled I am.

I left Jake this morning doing homework. He missed his math meeting and to be honest, I gave him a little talk on responsibility. However, as I sit (at Amber’s hair appointment) I keep thinking that I need to parent him differently. I need to show him I believe in him and encourage him that he has got this. I tried. But, I think I need to be more encouraging. This is good. This is good that the spirit works in helping us know how to be better in all areas. When I get home, I am going to be sure to let him know how much I appreciate him and that I do believe in him.

So... Amber just had Andrea give her a haircut. It’s soooo cute. It’s a bit shorter than she had anticipated. But, it is sooo cute. So, she will just grow it out and be patient. Andrea was so good to her. She was seriously the cutest. It was a really good experience.

I love you. I’ve been watching Facebook to see the changes of Lynbrook. I saw your story. I can’t wait to hear all about your new town.

Love you, Mom

I forgot to tell you the coolest thing. So many blessings are happening. I started getting sick Monday. By Tuesday I was feeling pretty yucky. My ears hurt. I kept coughing. By the time I went to bed, I was frantic that I was going to miss your endowment. It was 11:00 at night, dad was crawling into bed, and I asked him to give me a blessing. Tears were streaming down my face. I had already received a Covid test, but I knew I couldn’t go if I was sick—regardless of the results of the Covid test. It’s all I have prayed for. As I waited for dad to get dressed (he always gets dressed to give a blessing), I prayed telling Heavenly Father that I wanted so bad to be healed and that I wouldn’t go if I was sick because I didn’t want to hurt anyone.

Dad came up to me and said “I feel really good about this.”

I replied, “How can you know?”

He said, “I don’t. I just feel good right now.”

He gave me a blessing and it seriously was a miracle. Like in scriptures of old, I was healed. My cough stopped. My ears stopped hurting. In the blessing, he promised me that I would feel better and that I could go to the endowment without worry.

It was a miracle. I seriously haven’t been sick since. No sign of sickness. Completely better in seconds. The priesthood healed me. I know it did. I’ve always believed in the power of the priesthood, but this time, it was an all-new experience.

We’ve tried so hard to be good and to stay healthy. This is such a blessing.

We can’t wait!

Love, Mom

Hey Hailey!
Lol, guess what! I cut my hair!!! It’s nice and short now. I like it a lot. Idk what other people think of it. Some of my friends didn’t even comment on my hair even tho it’s obvious that I cut it. But my real friends told me it was cute.

Ok. Enough about my hair cut. I have a super funny story to tell you about. I was in school today and it was pe. Finally, we were doing something I Actually good at in pe: Soccer!

I know, I know, it’s not like I played it a lot, but I’m better at it than pickleball. Anyways. My team consisted of me and 3 other boys. Now. I know how boys work. Ya know? They only pass to boys unless you are good. So I start it off fast. I steal the ball and score!! Now that the boys know I’m good, they will trust me with the ball. This is my epic plan. And it worked. On the other team, there are some boys that are punks and not very nice, plus they swear all the time. So...I didn’t even feel bad that we destroyed them. One time, one of the boys had the ball and I totally stole it from them. It was fantastic. I had a pretty good system. I would steal the ball drive to the side and then pass to a kid in the center and we would score. It was great!!
So that’s my great story that I thought you might be proud of.

Ok. Now here is the low part of my week probably: I have tons of math homework every night and a take-home quiz due on Monday. Now...some might be stressed by this. But not me! Jk. Super stressed. Anyways. We are learning some dumb thing that I will never use again and it hurts my head but it’s fine. Anyways. I go up to my teacher because I can’t figure it out and she’s like: oh that’s because of this and this. BUT she didn’t explain any of this in the notes!! Like what? Why do I even do the notes at this point? Idk. My teacher is kinda bad, but it’s fine.

I hope these stories entertained you. I love you!! I want to hear all about your week!! I’m so excited that mom gets to come to see you!!! She is so excited. She almost cries every time she thinks about it. It’s kinda funny. I love you sooo much! You got this! You are the coolest kid I know! Go rock it!!!!

Love you,
Amber

Little Girl,
See, who says I never write to you?   Well, we are on our way to see you. We will be at the Temple bright and early. Your mom is bouncing with excitement to see you and be in the temple with you.  She thinks she is a prophet for predicting we would be traveling to see you in the temple in February. She was pretty close, and she is about the closest thing I know personally to a prophet.   

I really appreciated the Christmas card you sent for Christmas. It was nice of you. We missed you at Christmas. Jake and Amber asked we have a traditional Christmas at home next year when you are home. I think they miss you a lot. 

Big news!  Manchester United is tied with Liverpool at the top of the league. They have had a great run in the league. They have had some dud games, but it in other competitions.   No more football to tell you about. Your boys won their bowl game to end the season. So did Texas. Texas fired their coach anyway. They were ok but ok is not good enough in Texas. 

Work is super busy right now. I have a million things to do. I have a new intern starting tomorrow, so after we go to the temple with you, I will have a bunch of meetings. We are trying to get our return done and do some planning. Democrats want the elections, so I may have to work more. Do really care about the politics, just wish the idiots would quit changing tax law. It is a pain. Just leave it alone. 

Your baptisms in Manhattan were really cool. How is the teaching pool in Lynbrook?  I saw the first edition of Lighting Lynbrook. That was cool. Excited for more. Your companion looked live. Hopefully, she is cool. 

See you in the morning!!!!!!!!!

Love Dad

HayBay,
The emotions I feel right now are unprecedented. I feel like so many months of prayers are being answered as we travel to Connecticut. Every time I think about the temple and you and going through tomorrow with you, my eyes fill with tears. I can’t speak without a huge grin of anticipation and excitement and I can barely get through any conversation without my voice cracking with emotion. I just feel so blessed to be heading to your endowment.

When I hugged you goodbye so many months ago, believed we’d be able to come, but I did not know. We hadn’t heard of anyone being invited yet. No one knew what was going to happen, but somehow I just felt peace and that peace propelled me into believing that God was hearing me. I cheered you on. I told you with complete confidence that it would happen. I convinced you that somehow I was sure. Because—my faith told me to do it. My faith believed.

Here we are. Tomorrow I get to hug you. And even better than that hug that I look forward to giving you will be seeing you in the Lord’s house. My greatest joy comes through the gospel and my family. When those two unite, the heavens are singing with me.

I can’t wait to see you. Love you to the moon and back.

Love, Mom

As a way of information:
We are getting ready to leave Chicago right now. The plane was waiting for three bags—I think one was ours. We had to book it across the airport to make our flight, but somehow we still stopped for popcorn. We probably should’ve but dad said it was so good. And we were so hungry. A meal would’ve been better too, but... he’s right it is good.

We will land in Connecticut in two hours. It will be 9 o’clock your time. We will see you at 9 am. I’m wondering how long of a drive you will have tomorrow. Hopefully, you won’t be too tired.

I’m praying the kiddos do great. Amber says she has it. I believe she does. Grandma and grandpa wanted her to come to stay with them, but she was scared to drive 4 hours to be with them. She says she gets tired too easily.

Love you so much!!!!