Be Bartimaeus. Seriously.

What is up my family and friends? I hope you have all had a wonderful week. If you haven't, I hope it gets better. I hope you see the light in all things someday soon. Know that I am here to pray, love, and lift in any way, even all the way out here in the boonies of CT. I sure love you all. 

 Alright, on to the part you are all anxiously waiting for. Honestly, not anything too crazy happened this week. But, when you are in the work of the Lord, it is always a good week. 

One cool miracle was our friend Akeem. I had been messaging this guy on Facebook all week, but every time I went to call him--he was doing something and couldn't pick up! I had invited him to church several times. On Sunday morning, I got a text from Akeem saying: "I'm on my way." I was super surprised. I hadn't even met him, yet he was on his way to church. He came and he LOVED it. It was such a special experience. We were able to teach him later that night and he asked us for an extra Book of Mormon so he could give one to his mom. It was so tender. We love Akeem. He is a truck driver and will be going out of town for the next little while so please keep Akeem in your prayers. We will try to find the church closest to him wherever he finds himself next week.

Also, one quick story from earlier in the week! We were knocking down in downtown Bridgeport on Tuesday and we were having no success. No one was answering any doors and it was easy to feel frustrated. The only person who opened the door--literally--shut it on my foot as I tried to explain who we were. I guess that's not entirely true because there was also a Hispanic woman who also opened her door, but my 2 years of Spanish absolutely failed me as I stared at her blankly on her doorstep. By the time I had called the hermanas, she was sufficiently uninterested. Suffice it to say, I was ready to hop in the car and call it quits for the night. 

As we began walking towards the car, I saw a man get out of his car down the street. I almost didn't want to talk with him. I was fed up with the continuous rejection that I almost convinced myself that he wouldn't want to hear a message anyway. But something within me said to go talk anyways. So I jogged up to meet him, and said something incredibly awkward like "I'm Sister Miller, do you live here?" Thank goodness for the spirit because he didn't end the conversation. Then and there and we ended up talking for 30 minutes or so. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon and we took down his number. For some reason, I felt like we should give him ours as well. So I wrote down our phone number in the book and we headed off after we set up a return appointment. Before we had arrived at home, we had received a text from Willie. "I gave you the wrong phone number. As soon as you drove off, I regretted it. Thank you for giving me yours so that I can still talk with you both." I was so very grateful that I followed that small, tiny voice in telling me to write down our number as well. I have found that the spirit speaks more when we listen to even the silliest and smallest of promptings. 

We haven't been able to meet with Willie since, so please pray we get in contact with Willie. 

Ah God is so good. He is always kind. He is always in our court. 

 For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share a scripture from the Bible that stood out to me. It is Mark 10: 47-52, so go read it! 

Bartimaeus is a blind man who was seeking healing. He had heard of Jesus Christ and when He knew that Christ was walking by, He cried out for mercy. GET THIS. The people try to restrain him and get him to quiet down. What is Bartimaeus' response? He cries out the MORE, because of His faith in Christ. Christ goes to him. Verse 49 states, "Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee." Christ calls out to Bartimaeus and then He heals him because of his faith. Christ tells Bartimaeus that he can go his own way. But what does Bartimaeus do? He goes Christ's way. He follows Him. He chooses to discard anything and everything else because of his testimony of the Savior. 

I want to be like that. Cry out "the more" when people walk away from him. Believe when others choose not to. I have been healed in many ways because of Christ's mercy for me. I hope that I walk in Christ's way. I want to follow Him all the days of my life. He is the Master, and I love Him deeply. GO BE BARTIMAEUS!  

The church is true my friends. 

Be happy. Be brave. Be smart. 

Love, Sister Miller 

1) rainbow bagel 

2) service and more bagels :,)

3) the Book of Mormon 

4) THE ZONE