The Lamb of God, the Love of God

 Another week come and gone. I swear all I did was blink.

This week was the kind where not a whole ton happened, but all the best things did.

Rob passed his baptismal interview on Saturday night. I've never been so proud. He was glowing. At church yesterday, Bishop announced his baptism and asked him to stand. He stood and countless people smiled and waved as he used his little walker to stand. Sister Rasband and I have decided to buy "flame" stickers so we can make it his "chariot of fire." He has agreed. We sure love Rob. Following sacrament meeting, he was flooded with countless hugs, congratulations, and RSVPs for his baptism. He is incredible. We LOVE Rob.

Other exciting news: we have been living outside our area this whole transfer. Every time we contact people on the train, more often than not, we don't contact within our area. We called President this week and talked about it. He decided to give us another ward to cover! We now cover the entirety of the upper west side. That was BIG news. Yes, we celebrated with Levain cookies. We are ecstatic for this opportunity we have to further the work of salvation in our neighborhood. Morningside Heights is our baby!

In other cool news, yesterday we had the biggest tender mercy. We found 2 people who are so prepared. I want to share a little bit about how we found a woman named Natoria. Sister Rasband and I had a goal to find 2 people yesterday. I have really been feeling like focusing on the message of Christmas is the way to go. So my plan was to share something from Luke 2. We knocked on Natoria's door and she said she only had 5 minutes. We came in with the intent to share something really brief and to get on our way when my hands began flipping through the Book of Mormon. I stopped on 1 Nephi 11, Nephi's vision of the tree of life. I was confused. What was in this chapter that I should share? My eyes stopped on a verse. I began, "Natoria, life is confusing many times. We have so many things to learn and understand. In this passage, a prophet named Nephi seeks to understand more about a vision his father Lehi had. He was confused. The Spirit explains to Nephi what is most important." I then began to read from the verses aloud to our sweet friend Natoria.

"Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of [these things] which thy father saw?
And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God."

As I read those words, the spirit filled the room. My heart was swollen within my chest. She looked at us with teary eyes and testified of her personal testimony of the divinity of our Savior. She reverently took the Book of Mormon in her hands, promising to read it and to bring her and her son to church next week. It was an incredible experience. I too know that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Son of the Eternal Father. I know that His life is living proof of the "love of God."

Thanksgiving was wonderful too! I almost forgot that was this week. We had dinner with a family in the ward who invited us over. They had many children who ran all over screaming and hollering and begging for more candy. It was so fun to be around "littles" again. I feel so grateful for so many things this year. My heart feels as though it might burst. Truly, truly, words cannot describe the love in my heart for all that I have. Family, friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ, hope in tomorrow's, freedom, good education, clean water, scriptures, living prophets, wow... I could go on and on. I am just oh so grateful.

On Thanksgiving evening, we met with a former named Felix. We taught the restoration to him and he loved every second of it. It all "made sense." Amen Felix, amen. At the end, we felt impressed to put him on a baptismal date for January 9th, which he accepted. What a wonderful day and night. So much to be grateful for.

Well, I've rambled sufficiently about my week haha. This next week, we will be having so many things. The Giving Machines (if you don't know what it is you need to give it a Google), Carols on Columbus, and Rob's baptism. Get excited about that!!

For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share a quote by Neal A Maxwell that I recently discovered. "The cavity which suffering carves into our souls will one day also be the receptacle of joy." Let that sink in.
"God is totally serious about his purpose “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man,” that his chief concerns are...the celestializing of the souls with whom he works."
My dear friends, all things that we go through and experience here on earth are for our CELESTIAL gain. Yes, there is heartache. Yes, there is sorrow. But there is so much to gain here and in the hereafter. One of the people we are teaching has a really hard time understanding this. His family was killed in a genocide in a horrifying attack. I cannot fathom what he has gone through. The honest truth is that I can't understand why it happened and why he has gone through so much pain and suffering in this life. What I do know is that the Lord has promised: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." He is preparing mansions of glory for all of us, the faithful followers of Christ. And until the day where we have all the answers, let's continue in faith, knowing that God will make up for every loss and struggle we have faced while in this mortality.

I love you all. I know the church is true.

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

1) mom got us Thanksgiving dinnerrrrr 

2) levain 

3-6) rooftop views