Call me Ship-Builder Sister Miller

June 28, 2021

Call me Ship-Builder Sister Miller

OKAY, FRIENDS. It has been a week. I don't even know where to begin but--wow.

I am officially as far away from everyone in the mission as I possibly can be. I am in CT on the border. If I were to drive to the edge of my area, I would spy the Boston missionaries in the mission yonder. THAT is wild stuff.

Driving into Connecticut, I thought I had seen lots of green things before. But I was wrong. THIS is green. There were so many trees, we couldn't see buildings for miles. Some of me wondered if I had been reassigned to the Amazon rainforest. Where were the human beings? BUT no worries, there are humans in Connecticut too. This area was just moved into the mission boundaries, and so we were going to have a--once in a blue moon opportunity--to meet with the missionaries from another mission. The Boston missionaries were supposed to meet us at the church where they would pass off their sim cards and keys to their apartments. There were many miscommunications along the way and we wandered away from the exchange with an apartment key, but no sim card. That was a SLIGHT problem, but we were able to get that resolved.

The week was probably one of the most insane weeks of my life. The Walmart had no food (I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE), there was no one in our teaching pool, and there was no areabook that we were able to access. Somewhere along with the area transfer from mission to mission, Salt Lake City had lost the records of our area. But, the Lord provides miracles to all those who come with a desire to do His will. That is exactly what I have experienced this week.

After witnessing how great of a mountain we were assigned to climb out here, I found myself feeling very inadequate. I knew I was blinding into the area, but this was far more than that. We are practically opening a pool, that has 5-10 formers total. The weight of the situation seemed to rest squarely on my back and I wondered if I could do everything that was asked of me.
I began reading in 1 Nephi 17. In this chapter, Nephi is asked to build a ship. He is no shipbuilder by trade, but he is willing to do it. His faith is not in himself but is in the Lord. Rather than asking the Lord, "Why do I need to build a ship? Is there someone else more qualified? I don't even know how!" He humbly asks the Lord instead, "Where should I go to find tools?" As I read this, I felt as if I had been asked to build a ship. I AM NOT A SHIP BUILDER BY TRADE, but if the Lord wants to make me a shipbuilder, then a shipbuilder I will be. All of us at some point or another will find ourselves at a task that seems beyond our capabilities. The test of life is to be willing to take that first step, knowing that we aren't doing it alone. I love Nephi's resounding testimony to his older brothers at the end of the chapter: "If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them." (1 Nephi 17:50). Amen Nephi. So here I am, in Connecticut, and I believe that I can do the task laid before me. I believe I can because I have the master shipbuilder on my side. God knows the way. In the words of a favorite hymn: "Lead kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom. Lead thou me on. The night is dark and I am far from home; Lead thou me on! Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene--one step enough for me." One small step at a time. He will show the way, as he did for Nephi--He will do for me. Our God parts seas and quiets storms. Connecticut is just one of His promised lands.

So Sister Avondet and I have put in the work. We have full faith that this is one of God's promised lands. A land of milk and honey, that He has led us to. (guess that reference!)

We worked all week, without much success. Lessons we scheduled via Facebook and lessons fell through. We were able to have a few lessons but most of them turned out to be people in other areas or are not interested in hearing the message. But we were not discouraged. We had emblazoned on our hearts the knowledge that God would provide. He always has. I want to share 2 beautiful miracles that soon followed.

1) We were calling members to set up member lessons and get to know the ward when we had a random number call us back. We assumed this was one of the members we recently called. Dale answered the phone asking who he was speaking to. We explained that we were the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ. He quickly explained that he was not a member and was not interested. I don't remember exactly what I said but I started speaking to Dale. I asked him if he needed more peace right now and he said yes. He said "When I pray, I often pray for more faith. I want to believe, but I'm not sure how." Wow. We were able to explain the principle of faith to Dale, and show him what faith he already had-- so much. We testified that God had allowed us to call him at this time because God was aware of Dale and his situation. Dale agreed. We invited him to meet with the missionaries in Hartford, which he accepted. I know that God led us to call Dale and that Dale is a precious son of God. That was a miracle.

2) Sunday morning had rolled around and we had no one committed for church. I was a little sad, but I had some crazy hope that SOMEONE would show up for church, even though we hadn't been able to commit anyone. Sister Avondet thought I was absolutely crazy. We arrived at church 30 minutes early to find two women sitting on the couch. They were dressed nicely and spoke in broken English. We quickly discovered that they were visiting the church and they wanted to know more about the gospel. Sister Avondet asked them if they spoke Haitian Creole, and they emphatically began a conversation in the Creole language. They laughed and cheered and hugged. It was BEAUTIFUL. God had led them to come to church of their own accord. They are ready to receive the restored gospel, and God sent a Haitian-Creole-speaking missionary to Connecticut right in the very moment he would need one here. Sister Avondet is the answer to their prayers. We were able to find one of them later that night. God is so good my friends. In our lesson with Marie that night, we felt inspired to invite her to baptism, and she accepted. I realized that while we may be staggering up this mountain at times, the Lord is really up there carrying us. I am dumbfounded by His grace and mercy.

So I'm excited for what this next week has to offer. Extreme humidity, swarms of mosquitoes, and burnt pizza--all of it and everything in between. I believe that God sent me here right now for a reason. And who knows? Maybe I'll learn how to build a ship along the way.

Today is President and Sister Teuscher's last day here in New York City. I will miss them so much. President and Sister Holmes arrive on Tuesday. I know that they have been called of God to lead us. I am ready to follow wherever they may lead.

I love you all. This gospel is true. You've got this--no matter what mountain you are climbing. Put your shoulder to the wheel, push along. Smile more. Don't be afraid to laugh when it's hard. Things will work out, they always do.

Be happy. Be brave. Be smart.
Love always,
Sister Miller

1) goodbye to my bffs

2) welcome cookies from our WML

3) a random guy gave us these free shirts. Pretty trendy right?

4) our phrase of the week: "ALL GOOD THINGS"

5) we didn't have a can opener. We opened this can by pointing it with a screwdriver. Don't tell mom

6) the apartment was left in terrible condition, our senior couple missionaries drove out to help us clean it up for 4 hours. We love the Clifford's. :))

7) I still love church, in case yall forgot