WEST SIDE BEST SIDE
Okay. What. A. Week.
Tuesday was transfer day and I was one hot mess. I think it finally set in that it was my final transfer and I just bawled like a baby, and I kept having to wipe my eyes and cover up my face in my mask HAHAHA, a good time indeed. I said goodbye to so many of my heroes who I have served with over the course of my mission. Said goodbye to Sister Dimmick, Taeulia, Justvig, and Stratford! Crazy how quick time flies.
And off we went to the Upper West Side. It was like I was stepping back into a long lost dream. Zooming over the bridge I caught a view of my city--my city--Manhattan. And just like that, I was back in the heart.
Meet my companion: Sister Rasband!!
She's from Houston, Texas! She is a cutie and we get along well as she loves to work as hard as I do. When I got to the area, we had no one to teach. But we went to work, and this week we have found 6 people to teach. The Lord saw our efforts and provided for us. Let me tell you about the miracles...
I reflected on last year when I was on the East Side and I was reminded of one time when I went on an exchange to the West Side and I taught a girl named Marissa. We messaged her on Facebook and lo and behold, she still was here on the West Side, and yes, she wanted to study again. We found her this week, and we can't wait to study again. She is incredible!!
Later this week we really needed to find some more people. We had been putting in the work, but nothing was working the way we had hoped for. Determined, Sister Rasband and I said a prayer that the Lord would lead us to where He needed us to be. We went to look up a former only to get rejected. We decided to knock a few doors around, when suddenly, a door opened. On the other side, there was a woman. "Are you looking for Clara? You used to come and study with her." Not knowing this story, but willing to study with Clara, we responded that we would love to study with Clara. The woman responded, "She died last week. She was my mother." Her eyes moistened as she spoke the words. Love filled our hearts and we began to share with her the Plan of Salvation and left her with a Book of Mormon. She said, "You came at such a perfect time." We were able to testify that the Lord knew her, loved her, and was here for her. We love Jasmin. Please keep her in your prayers.
On our way down, we accidentally hit another button and stopped at a different floor. We took it as a sign that God needed us there. And boy, we were right. After knocking a few doors, we knocked into a young man named Jayden. The door opened and we began teaching our new friend about the restoration. He eagerly accepted a Book of Mormon, and a return appointment. The Lord is leading us by the hand, every, single, day.
Well my friends, it is another blessed week in Manhattan. I FEEL SO BLESSED. So blessed. I love being a missionary with my whole soul and I LOVE NEW YORK CITY.
For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share a quote from the last General Conference that has been on my mind. There was a talk given by Camille N Johnson about letting God author our story. Here are her words: "Why do we want the Savior to be the author and the finisher of our stories? Because He knows our potential perfectly, He will take us to places we never imagined ourselves. He may make us a David or an Esther. He will stretch us and refine us to be more like Him."
We can leave everything in His hands because His hands are perfectly scarred out of His matchless love for us. We can trust His love because it simply never fails us. We can trust His plan and purpose because He knows what is best for each of us. We can trust His timetable because His timing is always perfect, even when it doesn't match ours. We can trust that as we keep His commandments, He will keep His promises with us, nourish us and protect us. We can trust that as we listen, we will hear His voice because He is our Father and wants to speak with us.
I hope we let Him author our story. I hope we give Him the pen. I hope we let him erase the mistakes, rather than holding on to our past, as all authors go through editing phases. I hope we let Him make our story one of rises and falls, knowing that adversity is what makes a phenomenal character. In the words of an apostle I adore, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give’… are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us.” (Elder Maxwell)
I sure love you all. I know the church is true. I know it for many reasons, but today I am grateful for it because it makes me the woman I hope to be.
Be happy. Be brave. Be smart.
Love,
Sister Miller
1) 66th is for the cool kids
2) we dressed up as each other for Halloween. Genius right?
3) temple pic
4) rain got CRAZY out here
5-6) my city lights
7) our roof's cool view
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