"I LOVE CHURCH, SISTER MILLER" -Cait

HELLO WORLD!

I AM STILL ALIVE, not just alive, but thriving. This week has been one for the books. 

Some of the most beautiful moments, and some of the hardest all in just 7 days. I'm just going to focus on the highlights because there are so many reasons to be grateful. :)

SO OUR MAN, HERVE, got up 2 hours before church to be able to shower, and drive over to church in time. He walked in hobbling with a cane. Immediately the members came up to him, hugged him, and thanked him for coming. The bishop talked to him after church and told him how much he appreciated him coming to church. Herve left church absolutely beaming. It was more than a tender mercy. It was a miracle. He stated that "it was all worth it for the sacrament." Amen Herve, amen. 

Bobby is making leaps and bounds of progress. This week he was mostly able to wean off of all addictive substances, and by the end of this upcoming week, he will hopefully be completely clean!! THANK YOU for your prayers. He is truly feeling the power of those prayers. Bobby is someone that I could totally see as a bishop a few years from now. He loves the gospel so much already, and his sweet little Caitlyn does too. Cait came running up to me after church on Sunday and was pulling on my dress. I bent over and she cupped her hands over her mouth, ready to share a secret. I listened closely as she said these words wide-eyed and grinning: "I LOVE CHURCH SISTER MILLER." I couldn't help but tear up. Sappy I know, but I love Caitlyn and Bobby so very much. There are some people that God has led me to on my mission, and the Graves family is one I think I needed. <3

GIANCARLO had a major breakthrough this week, and he said he is ready to be baptized. He wants to be. WHAT? I know. Two weeks ago he was certain he couldn't do it and this week he said: "I feel like I don't even want a beer ever, for the rest of my life. It is like the feeling and desire has just left me." WOW. The spirit has truly led Giancarlo through all this. I'm just grateful we have been able to be the tools in His hands. This is God's work, not the work of man.

Stay tuned, we might be trying to get Giancarlo baptized this weekend hahaha!! 

THE MORAL OF THE STORY is that God is good. This is His work. Are there hard days? Absolutely. But it is so worth it. For any of you considering serving a mission, I would say jump in. There has not been a day that I've regretted coming out. This has been the most crazy and beautiful 9 months of my life. I've learned countless things but most of all, I've learned about Christ. I've made Him my best friend.

There is a quote I love from Jeffrey R Holland which says, "Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font? You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 

Missionary work may not be EASY, but there is nothing more fulfilling. Nothing more joyful, nothing more beautiful. I promise each of you that a mission is worth it. And to those of you who have served and are home, or who may not choose to go--you can and SHOULD be a missionary right where you are. This is God's work and His glory. Every time we step up to the plate to swing at His game, He provides the home run. We must simply be ready to swing. 

THE GOSPEL IS TRUE. YOU MATTER. AND I LOVE YOU! 

Be happy. Be brave. Be smart. & DEFINITELY consider serving a mission. 

Love, 

Sister Miller 

OH AND PS:

The tender mercy of the week!! We always run on a street next to our house and this man always gets up, starts his car, and then goes back inside. After it is all warmed up, he heads out to work. Each day, he says hello and we look forward to this small interaction. Saturday, we got there and his car was already gone :// BUT HE CAME BACK with fresh New York bagels! He said that he had made them for us! After delivering our special breakfast bagels, he went back to work. If that isn't a sign that God loves me, I don't know what is!! 

1-2) BEACH (it was SO WINDY) 

3) Bobby & Cait

4) Nikki

5) Jamaica

6) THE BEST PIZZA IN LONG ISLAND

7) the bagels :,)

8) Arlie & us & MUSTACHES

9) Luverne and Gabby at church

10) HERVE at church !! 

11) me & my fave book

12) me and Sister Call