12-17-12

Pic 1. Classic German church here in Magdeburg, a neighboring area where we happen to be for P-Day. :)

Pic 2. My companion (Elder Beck) and I.

Pic 3. Oh my goodness all the candy I got!

Pic 4. Snow! :D

Pic 5. Captain Underpants in German! XD So funny to see.

Pic 6. Us at the temple.

Pic 7. The church where Martin Luther tacked up his thesis. It's in my area actually. (Not the real door, the church has burned down and been renovated and whatnot.)

Pic 8. It was pretty foggy, and then got below freezing, so the fog froze all over the cobwebs. It looked so weird. The spiderwebs look jeweled almost.

Hello everyone!

Had plenty of snow last few weeks. That was wonderful. :) It has kinda
been melting now these last few days. Ah well. :)

Had a wonderful Christmas Ward Choir concert yesterday (Sunday). The
ward was wonderful about inviting everyone and their dog, so there were
loads of people there. (I am pretty sure that most of them were not
members.) We sang quite a few Christmas songs, and ended with the song
'I Believe in Christ'. (In German of course) It was wonderful. We got to
spend the entire concert testifying of Christ and rejoicing in the
Christmas season.

I would ask you all to take a look at the word: Christmas. You guys are
hearing this word all over the place these days. Wonderful to see how
God is so sneaky about His reminders and helps. I would encourage you
all to let the very name of Christ in the word Christmas to remind you
of Him. He loves you, and He loves hearing from you. Don't forget to
pray. :)

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! I don't know if my next post will
get to you before then, so I will just wish you that now. :) Stay close
to Christ. God be will you.

- Elder Michael Miles

12-10-12

Hello everyone. :)

This week has been a very good week. We have actually seen a lot happen.
We went to do some doors in student housing and talk to loads of people.
We gave at least 4 door lessons, made out at least 10 new appointments,
and have already seen 2 promising new investigators out of it. After
some time struggling, this has been a huge tender mercy for me. I know
that God prepares his work for his prepared workers, and prepares a way.
:)

Scripture! 1st Ne. 14:14

 14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of
God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and
upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the
face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the
power of God in great glory.

First of all, Righteousness must come first, before the power of God.
We enable ourselves to be supported by God, when we follow Him and
strive to do what we can. :)

Secondly, -He- arms -us- with righteousness. I think most of us have
heard the idea that Faith is a gift from God. As we do what we can and
ask Him for Faith, and show and exercize what faith we have, God blesses
us and helps our Faith to grow. I think this is speaking to the same
concept. As we do what we can, God blesses us with everything we need.
God helps us to be righteous as we try to be righteous He loves us. He
helps us. He watches out for us. Don't forget Him. Don't think that you
can move forward with the Faith and Righteousness that you already have
(and only have because of Him) and go without relying on Him anymore, or
without keeping in contact with Him.

Keep in contact with God. Go forward in Him. He will make your pathway
bright.

God be with you. Keep close to the Sheepherd. Go have a great week. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

12-3-12

Hello everyone. :) I hope this blog post finds you well. :)

I'm gonna get straight to the spiritual thought this week. :)

Alma 5:26 - And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have
experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of
redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

I love that phrase. 'The Song of Redeeming Love'. It causes me to
reflect on the Love that enabled Christ to Redeem us. It causes me to
relfect on the beautiful feelings of the Spirit that, when I think about
it, could be described rather well as wonderous music.

Can ye feel so now? Think back on some of the wonderful moments where
you have felt the Spirit. Where you have felt Christ soften your heart.
Where you have felt his tender love. Don't forget these moments. When
you are feeling sad or weak, think back on these. Can ye feel so now? I
am here to testify that you can. God is there. He loves you just as much
now as ever. :)

 In this Christmas season, we are all a little more reminded of Christ,
and I love it. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I would encourage
you to go about with joy in your heart. Try to find this Song of
Redeeming Love. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

11-26-12

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We actually missed it entirely without realizing it here. They don't
celebrate it here. Kinda funny.

Things are going well. Got my new companion Elder Beck. Nice laid back
guy. We are getting along very well so far.

Spiritual Thought!

Today, I would like to talk about the Sacrament.

Think about how much you respect the Covenants you have made.
Especially in the Holy Temple if you have. Think about how much those
mean to you. How much those mean to God. Think about the wording.
Maybe even go study the wording a little. It can be very specific and
meaningful. Think about how big of a deal they feel to you.

Now let's think about the Sacrament. The Sacrament is a wonderful
Ordinance that we are priveleged to take part in every week. In this
we renew every covenant we have made. Every time we take the
Sacrament, we are essentially remaking those Covenants. Those
Ordinances we have done to come to God are re-enacted in our hearts.
We promise to keep God's commandments and to think about Jesus Christ
in return for a complete forgiveness of our sins, and a complete and
wonderful renewal of all Covenants we have made, as long as we have
repented of sin. How wonderful is the Sacrament?

So, my encouragement today it to try to love the Sacrament more. Try
to see it more and more as the great and wonderous Ordinance that it
is. Try to feel the Spirit more. Treat it like you do the Temple in a
sense. It is just as Holy. I testify of these things in the name of
our Good Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, amen. :)

Have a great week everyone! I wish you all the best! God be with you.
Remember to smile and look for happiness. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

*Editor's note: Michael is a senior companion, as well as a district leader.

11-19-12

Hey everyone! Trying to save time today, so I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to say hello.

Just had transfers, and I am staying in Köthen. An Elder Beck is coming. I am excited to get to know someone new and build a new friendship.

As far as a spiritual thought, I would like to leave you with some quotes from a book that my grandmother was telling me about. The book is called: Divine Signatures

'Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and the pulleys.' - my comment: God has the plan. He knows what He is doing.
No worries. Just do what you can in your sphere of influence. :)

"God loves His children and it pleases Him to bless them, especially when they are striving to do His will. These blessings, also called 'tender mercies,' come in many different forms and in many different ways.  Sometimes, the Lord sends His blessings in such a highly unusual, dramatic, or precisely timed manner, that it might be likened to a 'divine signature.' It is as though the Lord 'signs' the blessing personally so that we will know with certainty that it comes from Him.
In doing so, God not only give us the blessing, but at the same time, He also strengthens our faith and deepens our testimony of Him." - I can testify that sometimes God gives us very specific blessings to help us remember Him and to think about His Love. He cares so much.
You can trust Him. He's watching out for you. He's on your side. :)

I hope you guys are all doing well. Have a good week. Go search out happiness and make a good week. :) Love you guys. Keep close to Christ.

- Elder Michael Miles

11-12-12

Today I would like to share one simple thought. God has a plan. As a matter of fact, God has The Plan. He knows what's best. He cares. He won't let things get out of hand. He will take care of you as long as you let Him. As long as you keep following Him. Trust Him. He loves you. I can testify of that, in Christs name. John 20:27 "- and be not faithless, but believing." God's got your back, as long as you let Him be there.

Have a great week everyone. Keep close to the Light. Talk to you all next week. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

11-5-12

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Halloween. Interestingly, it is recognized, but not really celebrated here. It is actually the year anniversary of, I think something to do with Martin Luther. I may have been the day that he posted the Thesis, I am not sure. But they call it Reformations day, and it is a work holliday. Some children go around doing trick-or-treating, but hardly anyone had decorations out, and I really only saw a hadful of children out. Kinda sad to me. Our English class is going well. People are bringing there friends, and we are getting more and more opportunities to share smaller, condensed messages from the Gospel with people we may not have otherwise reached, or gotten to really talk to. Wonderful experience, and great to see the work move forward. Nothing can stop this work. I can testify to that. Spiritual thought for the week. I have been memorizing a scripture: Alma 37:36-37 36 Yea, and let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and withersoever thou goest, let it be in the Lord. Yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord continually, yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. 37 Council with the Lord in all thy doings, and He shall direct thee for good. Yea, and when thou layest down at night, lie down unto the Lord, that He may watch over you in your sleep, and when thou risest in the morning, let thy heart be full of thanks unto God, and if you do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. What I really have come to love about this scripture, is that it so often says 'let'. It testifies to me that we know where to go. We can feel what we should be doing. We know how to do right. We know how to follow God. We know the Lord personally, and He knows us. Now the question is, are we letting ourselves know these things and see these things? Are we letting ourselves acknowledge the way we should go, letting go of our unrighteous desires? Are we letting the desires of our heart, who know the Lord and want to follow Him, truly follow the Lord? Are we letting ourselves be close to Him? It can be very simple when we set our minds to do good and to be close to our Loving Creator. As we are truly honest with ourselves, and with all of our heart let go of evil, letting our natural good desires drive us, and carry us to follow Christ, the way becomes easy. The burden becomes lighter. Christ is with us as much as we let Him be. He can't force us. He would never want to. But He is imediately there when we let Him in. I testify to that. He loves me. He loves you. He knows you, and you may know Him better than you realize. And I testify of all these things in His name, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Have a glorious week everyone. Keep close to Christ. Look for the happy things, and try to remember to smile. :) I love you guys. God be with you.

10-22-12

Hello everyone! News for the week: Found a cool investigator through English Class who already speaks pretty good English, and is happy to practice it by asking us questions about our Gospel. :P Also met a nice lady on a train. Talked to her about who we are and what we do, and gave her a Book of Mormon. She seemed interested. It was cool. :) Worked very hard on a cool phrase based on a little piece of revelation I recieved. I hope you guys enjoy it: Sometimes we're so busy marvelling at the might of the Mountain, that we shrink from the simplicity of the Step. My message for this week is not to worry. Don't worry about focusing on the things that aren't under your control. Don't worry about all of the things you WILL need to do. Be at peace. Look at the step, tasks, and planning that are in front of you. Work with what you can in the here and now. Don't waste time discouraging yourself by gaping at the height of the Mountain, simply start stepping and doing what you can. You'll get there faster, and more easily than you think. :) Love you guys. Keep Christ close to you, and the Spirit with you this week. God be with you. :) - Elder Michael Miles

10-15-12

Hello everyone! I hope, as I always do, that you find yourself feeling well today, and encourage you to do something about it if not. :) Things have been good since I last wrote. Had transfer calls and it turns out I am staying for another 6 weeks here with my same companion. No complaints there really. He is a good guy, and this town is a bit small, but it is good. :) I apologize also about last week. I was very pressed for time because of various circumstances and only had time to tell everyone that had written me that I had no time to write. It was rough. :/ This week, I would like to insert the answer that I gave to Mom about how my investigators are doing, and I will also be including a spiritual thought of course. :) How are my investigators doing? Well, I'll give you a little insight on 3 of the ones we are meeting with right now. We have a psychologist lady Frau Schwientek (not a German name, even though she is a German, pronounced shven-tek) we have cleared up some things with her recently, and are having a hard time some days because we get into such depth talking about different things that we don't make a whole lot of progress on the material. But I love meeting with her. Wonderful discussions and a very nice lady, and she reads what we give her to read in the Book of Mormon every week. :) We are also meeting with Frau Metke, a nice Lutherin lady. (many, many people are Lutherin here) The lessons are going well, and we are starting to talk to her about baptizm. She seems timid though. But she reads in the Book of Mormon now. :) We are also teaching an inactive woman and her husband, last name Pierschel (peer-shul), her husband is not a member, and she seems very interested in becoming active again. She also seems to be bringing her husband with. :) Nice people huh? The work moves forward. :) This week I would like to share a thought about a reference about Christ in the Book of Mormon, and the Old Testament: In Malachi 4:2 it reads: "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." And 3rd Ne. 25:2 reads: "But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall." Also, one more time mentioned in 2nd Ne 25:13: "Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in absepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name." I love this reference. 'Healing in His Wings'. Beautiful imagery. Wings as a symbol have always meant a lot to me, and I think they have a lot of meaning here. Often in the scriptures, Christ speaks talking about how He would have gathered His people under His wings as a hen gathereth her chicks, and they would not. In this sense, the wings refer to His loving care a protection. I also love the imagery of Christ's asscention, not just from the world, but from the grave. I love the beautiful image of Christ rising up and extending peace and love and healing to all that will come and turn unto Him. I would encourage you all to look unto the Christ. Just as seen with the brasen serpent on the staff, He has risen up as a symbol and guide and trailblazer, and He can heal you of all of your pains. He is the Master Physician. He will take care of you. I testify of that in His name, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Have a wonderous week everyone. I wish you all the best. Go do all you can for God, and then stand still as he works mighty miracles with what you have done. :) - Elder Michael Miles

10-8-12

Sorry, Michael didn't have enough time this week to write a blog post. Your friendly Blog-keeer, Andrew Miles, his little bro.

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you all healthy and happy. :) I had my first walk in lesson the other night! Two actually... That was a big deal! It has been a long time on the mission, and now I finally got them! X) We were in the student housing across the street looking to re-establish contact with some contacts that were written down in the area book. We knocked on a door and an Arabic guy answered, and informed us that the person we were looking for had moved upstairs. We quickly transitioned it into a door approach and briefly introduced our message. He immediately let us in, and we talked to him all about our church and the restoration and the Book of Mormon. He told us a lot about what he believes as a Muslim, told us he is actually from Nasareth(spelling?), which is cool, and overall we just had a wonderful discussion. :) We went back to our appartment real quick and grabbed him a Book of Mormon in Arabic, gave it to him, and headed upstairs to talk to the other guy. We found him, but he had no recollection of having met with us. But he let us right in as well! He is a friend of the first guy, also an Arabic guy from Nasareth. Very cool. The same thing happened. Talked to him about our message, he talked a little about his and asked us some questions the same way we were asking him questions, and we placed a Book of Mormon in Arabic with him as well. Wonderful how God set it up so those two could receive the Book at the same time. Hopefully they can share their experiences and come to the Gospel together. Wouldn't that be great. :) In any case, it was a wonderful night of testifying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. Hopefully we were able to bring those two young men closer to Christ. :) Well, I hope you all have a good week. Go make it good. Keep close to Christ, for He is Mighty to Save. D&C 84:88 "- for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." Trust in your God. :) - Elder Michael Miles

9-24-2012

Hello everyone! Got a story about some crazy travel, and then I gotta get going. Had two appointments in a city called Dessau, and we were on exchanges, so I was trying to lead us around. We were on bikes and it was gonna be like a 30 minute ride or so to the second one. Then as we came out of the first appointment, we found that one of the tires had died. We weren't really sure what to do at this point. We considered a few different options, but decided to walk back to where we might be able to catch a bus or something. We then walked the twenty minutes or so back to the main trainstation. There we spent some confused minutes trying to figure out the bus and tram system, and tried to do some guessing as to what we could catch on the way back. We then hopped on a bus, bought a ticket, and put our trust in God. Then the bus wasn't even announcing the stop names as we got to them, so we nearly missed our stop. Then we made it off, nearly couldn't find the guy's place, had to ask some guy leaning out his window for directions, and finally found the place. Remember, we are pushing our bikes around this whole time as well. We meet with the guy with the little time we have left, and leave rather quickly, because we needed to catch another bus. We finally got there, realized it was a tram, and waited for it to come. We had barely made it speedwalking. Then we almost thought we couldn't take our bikes with us and had a small moment of panic before we realized that the further car down allowed bikes. Then we took it down to where we should get off for the southern train station. We had gone to the southern, instead of the main, in hopes of giving us more time. Turned out we got off one stop too far. We quickly started heading back, and jogged the last bit. We were worried because the train should be getting there any minute, and we had to clear to the other side of the tracks before the train got close enough that they closed the gates. We got there in time, and took a look at the bus schedule. Turned out we were on the wrong side of the tracks. We nearly ran back down the platform, crossed back across the tracks, and walked up that side of the platform. We sat there panting for a moment, and I sat processing what I had seen on the train schedule on the other platform. Suddenly I realized something was wrong. I pulled out the map to realized that the train we needed didn't even come through the southern train station. At this point we kinda gave up on catching our first train and aimed our sights on the next one. :P We caught the tram back up to the main station, and caught the later train home. Crazy day. Lots of fun. :) Anyway! Don't have time to talk abou anything else. Have a wonderful week everyone. Trust your Lord. He is mighty to save. Keep close to Him. - Elder Michael Miles

9-17-12

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful week. :)
I have some exerpts from other emails to share with you, and a bit of
a spiritual thought. So let's get to it!

My uncle asked me about if it gets harder to pack as time goes on,
because one seems to accumulate so much stuff, even though you get
better and better at packing. He also talked about leaving behind
stuff you didn't want, and finding that same kinda stuff in the
appartment you move to from the previous Elders:

It was a little harder to pack it seemed, but I was able to leave some
stuff, so that was very nice. :) In our mission, those items that you
find in the new appartment are called 'Wohnung Specials'. Wohnung
translates to appartment. I got some free graph paper out of this
appartment. They use it more here than normally lined paper. I also
got some of those shoe insert things that help keep the shoe's shape
in my last appartment. Rather useful for my one pair of shoes. I have
been making a couple tasty things here and there myself. Brownies and
such. Can't find any corn syrup for peanut brittle though... And they
actually use 'vanilla sugar' as opposed to normal vanilla extract. It
is simply some white sugar with the vanilla flavoring in it. You use
the exact same measurements as you would for the extract. Was very
happy to figure that one out. :)

My mom asked be about the biking in this area:

Yup. Bikes. They aren't so bad to ride. I want to raise the seat, but
we don't have the tools. :P We haven't gotten a flat tire yet
actually. These are actually kinda cheap, and only have three gears,
and are a solid frame with no shocks or anything, so I have to be nice
to them. My legs are dead tired in any case. It's like they never get
enough time to heal before we start having to do another long, hard
ride. :/ I'm sure they'll start picking it up eventually though.

Just to let you all know, things are going well with my new companion.
We get along quite well and have a lot of good discussions. We are
teaching well, and the work is moving forward here. I like it a lot.
Very strange still being in such a small town, but it's all the same
work. Just different on the in-between bits. :)

Now onward to the spiritual bit! :)

I challenge you to let go of some of your burdens. Give them to Christ.

I had an interesting epiphany this week after having gone to the
Temple. (We are in the same mission zone as the Temple, and get to
take a trip each transfer as long as we are stationed here.) I
realized the fact that the only things that make you unhappy, or happy
for that matter, are your own perceptions of the things in your life.
No day, in and of itself, makes things difficult or simple, happy or
sad. You do. And remember, Christ is the master of this concept. 'for
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light'.

Have a wonderous week everyone! God be with you, and stay close to
Christ. And remember to smile! :)


Also, my snail-mail address changed! So be sure to get the recent one from the blog.

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

9-3-12

Hello everyone. :) Not a whole lot of time, as always. Thought I'd share some stuff about my new area though.

I am now serving in the Köthen area. After speaking with some natives, I finally got a difinitive answer on how to pronounce that ö:

The ö sounds a little more like the oo in the moo of how a french cow would sound. :P You make a soft 'eh' sound, and then shape your mouth into an o, which forms it into the ö sound. :)

I hope that helps. :)

This is a town and not the large city I had been growing accustomed to. It is wonderful to see the horizon again, and not be surrounded by tall buildings all the time. Things are a lot quieter feeling. It makes it harder to find people because a lot of people have already been approached, and there aren't a whole lot of people out on the street like the was in Spandau, but I am excited for the work. :)

This was also apparently a frequent haunt, and I think possibly the childhood home of, Johann Sebastian Bach. Found a cool little bust statue. Probably gonna send the picture next week or so. :)

We also work in a couple of the surrounding towns, such as Dessau, Wulfen, and various other little bity highway towns.

My companion's name is Elder Tolbert. Very cool, nice guy, who grew up on a farm in Delta, Utah. We are getting along quite well. We are making wonderful goals for this transfer, and are both ready to work.
I have liked it a lot here so far, and am looking forward to a very good transfer here. :)

Spiritual thought for this week comes from some scripture reading I was doing on the train here from Spandau. I was reading in Third Nephi, and stumbled across 3 Nephi 17:4

4 But now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.

I actually was not really nervous or afraid of the upcoming transfer at the time, but right as I read this scripture, the Spirit came over me very powerfully testifying to me that 'I am not lost unto the Father, for He knoweth whither he doth take me.' It was a wonderful experience. I felt God's love for me, and a powerful testimony of how closely and lovingly our Heavenly Father looks after His children.

I can make the exact same promise to each of you.

'You are not lost unto the Father, for He knowether whither he doth take you.'

Trust in Him, and strive to get the good out the situations you have.
Improve bad situations and mindsets.

Fear not. Got knows where you are. You are not forgotten. He is not busy worring about something else. You are in His care, as far as you let Him take care of you.

I challenge you all to try to keep your faith and belief more active in your life. Try to find one more opportunity to pray each day. Find some daily thing that could use a prayer to go along with it, or that could act as a reminder to pray. You will see blessings from it. As a certified and called servant of the Lord, I can, with authority, promise that to you, in the name of Christ.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Love you all. Keep close to Christ. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

8-27-12

Hey everyone! I have been transfered!

It is so very strange because every (male) missionary has about 16-ish transfers in the field. That is always how mission time is measured
here: how many transfers you have had, and how many you have left. You will often hear conversations like so: 'How old are you?' '15 transfers.' 'Oh man! Dead man walking!' Etc.

I have already had 3 transfers! Plus the MTC, but the 16 doesn't count that. I also will be hitting the six month mark on September 14th!
Crazy crazy.

I have officially recieved a transfer to my second area! I will be leaving early tomorrow for a town called Köthen. Imagine a frenchman pronouncing a word like 'bleur' and you may have come close with the eu in the middle to how an ö sounds. So the best I could write it as far as pronunciation is Keuten. Or possibly Keut'n. Some also pronounce it with more of an oo sound. So maybe something like kooten or koot'n So excited to go! Gonna go learn a new area and a new companion.

Anyway, today I thought I'd relay a really cool discussion that our Mission President's wife gave this last zone conference. It is about Psalm 23

 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Now as we had explained to us some background on how Shepherds work, and how sheep are, many of these verses take on much deeper meaning.
Let's take a look.

1 - 'I shall not want.' Rather simple. A shepherd leads his sheep and takes care of them in every sense. They are not left wanting everything. Christ leads us. As we truly follow him and do what we should, we will truly have everything we need.

2 - Interesting point about sheep, they literally will not lay down until they feel entirely safe. If they feel in danger at all, they will not lay down. Also, sheep can't swim. Their thick wool soaks up water like crazy, and if there is any current at all preventing them from being able to walk along the bottom, they will drown. - Christ will protect us.

3 - Christ takes care of us. When we are hurting, he will always nurse us back to health. Shepherds pretty much live with their sheep. When one is sick, he will carry it when needed, he will tend it carefully until it is nursed back to health.

4 - Firstly, sheep trust their shepherd. They are very, very hard to herd, and if they don't trust their leader entirely, they will not do anything that scares them in the least. But as they trust him, they feel safe. We must trust in Christ, and trust in Him as he leads us through our own valleys of death. He will keep us safe. Secondly, when a sheep runs away and was being a problem, a real shepherd will break it's leg. No questions asked. He then carries the sheep back to the fold and nurses it tenderly back to health. Sometimes Christ hurts us in order to help us continue in the long run. Trust Him. It may hurt, but He always knows what He is doing, and when you are in pain, He is always there to help it heal right, as long as you will -let- Him help you. :)

5. A shepherd prepares a special coctail of different spices and chemicals to annoint the heads of his sheep. This repels bugs and thereby helps to protect against all of the problems that come from the many diseases and bugbites that come from that.

6 - Here we see the blessings. Read it carefully. Apply it to you.
Think about what that really means with an eternal perspective. :) Wonderful isn't it. :)

I hope you guys all have a wonderous week. :) I wish you all the best, and challenge you all to go follow Christ, and go -make- it the best.
:)

- Elder Michael Miles

8-20-12

1. Classic German sidewalk. Cobblestone, lots of trees, sometimes on both sides, appartment buildings, and the little red section is the bike path. Those are everywhere.

2. Went to the palace place again. There was a cool angel statue, and I put the sun behind it. :)

3. Cool statue in the graveyard.

4. Look what I found to dip my dinosaur chicken nuggets in! XD

5. Acorns!

6. Rain!

That is all for now. :) Love you guys! Have an awesome week!

- Elder Michael Miles

8-13-12

Hello everyone. :) I hope you are all doing well, and that you are all staying close to the Light. :)

I was thinking I might be able to tell you a few fun little stories of little things that have happened to me in the last week that you may find interesting. :)

An older man sitting on an electric wheelchair (there are lots of those here) by a bench the other day stopped us and after confirming who we were, told us he was a Jehovah's Witness. We nodded carefully, waiting for him to start arguing with us, because people of that religion are known to do so. He asked 'The Bible says that we are all brothers right?' We agreed, and he seemed satisfied. That was pretty much it. He was rather pleasant about it. We gave him our card, and walked away. It was nice. In that moment he was just another Christian briefly talking with us about nice Christian beliefs. :)

We have been able to get into contact with a handful of people who were formerly meeting with the missionaries, but who got out of contact at some point. Some of them seem rather interested. We are excited for them. :) Wonderful to see how the Lord works. :)

Elder Williams (who is part of the other companionship in our district) and I were walking down the road just after having had district meeting. We were now on exchanges, and were doing a little finding in my area, before we left for his area to do the work for the day. We saw a guy looking a little exasperated looking at four large bags of stuff and a bike. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to carry it all while riding the bike. We asked if  he needed help. He did. We gave a card to his friend, who seemed rather interested, and then his friend had to go, and we proceeded to help him carry his stuff for a good thirty minutes or so to his appartment. The whole way we were talking about the Gospel. He seemed to have been raised Lutheran, but had very little religeous knowledge. For example, I asked him what he believed about Christ, and he told me that he knew of Christ, and that some people had killed him. He then proceeded to ask me questions like, why they had killed him, why he had a crown of thorns, what the resurection was about, and other various things. He seemed to have a blief in a God and a Christ that he knew very little about. Seems to have inherited the faith, so to say, from his mother. Very cool kid. We answered all the questions we could in the time we had, and finally got him and his stuff to his place. Plan to be meeting with him soon to have some more formal lessons. :) (His name is Celvin.)

Those are all I can think of right now. I hope they will suffice. :)

As for a spiritual thought, I would like to draw your attention back to a story that I think is rather common, at least in some parts of the church.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego

Now these wonderful role-models come from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, chapter 3. The story goes that the king, Nebuchadnezzar, had errected a golden tower, and concocted some gods to go along with it. Every time that loud music was played throughout the city, everyone was required, by law, to stop what they were doing, and bow down and worship this tower. Now of course our righteous, upstanding three brothers here would not do such a thing. They were loyal to God.

So of course the king was very angry. He had decreed that all who would not worship his tower would be thrown into a fiery furnace. He brought the three to him by force and demanded of them why they would not serve his statue, threatening them with the aforementioned furnace. They boldly told him that they were not going to worship his gods, and that they had full faith in their God. The king was so infuriated by this statement, that he caused the furnace to be intensified to seven times the original heat level. The king then commanded some of his soldiers to take the men and cast these three rebels into the flames. The flames were so hot, that those who delivered the three were consumed by the heat as they carried out their order.

Let's stop and think here. We have seen how wonderful the works of our Lord are. As we read through the Old Testament, we have seen him rain fire from the sky, turn rivers from their course, move mountains, and countless other marvelous miracles. We know he has the power to change this situation. He could strike the king, he could put out the fire, he could do any number of things to change this situation so that they would not need to be thrown into the fire. But he does not. The story goes on, and the three are thrown in. And then is when the miracle happens. They are preserved. Not a hair on their head, or a thread of their clothes is even singed, or, as noted in verse 27, 'nor the smell of fire had passed on them'. They didn't even smell like smoke! And then my personally favorite part, verses 24 and 25:

 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Christ was standing with them.

Now here is the moral I would like to share with you: God does not put out the fires very often. He is much more likely to strengthen us, and send us help that we may endure it. Trials come. Hard times are a necessary part of growing. God loves us enough to leave the hardships there, that we may progress. We all want to progress. And we always have help. We always have someone at our side. That is Christ. Have no fear. Christ is there. Do not fear the flames. Do what you can. Stay true to your faith. God will not fail you. All things 'shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good' - D&C 122:7.

Have a wonderful week everyone. :) I love you all. Keep close to Christ. He will take care of you. :)

- Elder Miles

8-6-12

Alright everyone, crazy quick post today.

Question from uncle, do many Germans try to immitate English?:
Many Germans here actually speak some broken English. It is a very good language to have in this area, because it is pretty much the language you need to speak with tourists and other European countries. The kids are required to learn some all through school. Many of them don't retain much though. :P In any case, there are a surprising amount of members in our ward and people on the street that speak and understand very fluent English.

Another from uncle, how many appointments do you teach?:
We are teaching one or two lessons (as opposed to discussions) a day on a slow day, and more like four on a more packed day. Sometimes as many as five. These last couple of weeks were a bit slow, but things are picking back up again this week. I love having appointments to go to. I am actually doing my share of the teaching. I was doing a good chunk by about four or five weeks in I think. I just got blessed having had some German before I came.

Found an awesome scripture this week. Romans 13:8-10. Love is the key. If you truly, purely, try to love, everything else will fall into place. I can feel that it is true. I challenge you all to see where you can exercize more love.

Keep Christ close. He is the BEST example of love.

Have an awesome week everyone! Love ya!

- Elder Michael Miles

7-30-12

Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well. :) Pressed for time, but here is a post! (madly copy-pasting from other emails) ;)

This week was alright. A bit rough. Some appointments fell out, which is always hard. We plan out a block of our time, and then take the effort to get all the way out there, only to have the person not show up, or not be home. We then resorted to finding. Walking the streets talking to people and looking up old contacts so we can go knock on their door and ask if they still have interest. Had a small handful of people tell us to come back another day, which was very cool, and we got a new investigator out of it too. He has been meeting with the missionaries for quite a while on and off. He likes his church, and thinks that our Church is very nice and cool, but doesn't seem to have any real motivation to change, or any perspective on whether our Church is the right one. We hope to be able to change that. ;)

It is always nice to have the time in the day all planned out with appointments. You just go from one place to another getting things done. Having blank time is hard. Talking to people on the street is a physical strain as you walk around for however long, and try your best to present this glorious message to people that mostly do not have time to talk, or interest in talking about religion. But sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven, and finding on the street does work. We have to bring these people the Gospel in whatever way we can. :)

Good scripture: Alma 37:36-37. Go look it up and read it before you continue to the next paragraph. :) (If your scriptures aren't nearby, lds.org has online scriptures. ;) )

...

The part about watching over your sleep is amazingly touching for me, because I always have such a hard time sleeping, and almost always wake up with a mild form of dispair creeping in my heart. Feeling like life is unhappy and being kinda sad. I don't know what causes it. Normally I am not that negative. I don't go to bed that negative. :P But I truly have experienced Christ's protection. When I really focus on Christ and fill myself with Light before I go to sleep, and imediately think about Christ and the Light when I wake up, I feel so much better. I feel so much better rested, so much happier. I feel Christ's care around me, and know that He really has watched over me while I slept. When I really dedicate myself to it, I see wonderful, merciful results. :)

This scripture is also very straightforward and informative. I have it written on a little thing on my desk so that I see it often and think about it's council. I hope you can benefit from it as well. :)

Have a wonderful week everyone! I wish you all the best, and challenge you to bring down the blessings of Heaven through your faith and obedience. :)

- Elder Miles

07/23/2012

I don't have much time, but I still plan to get a bit of a post out!

Hello everyone! :) Hope you are doing well, and are happy and at peace. :)

Public service announcement! I have accidentally falsified the pronunciation information I gave you last week about the word 'doch'. In German, the ch sound on the end of the syllable either makes the softer sound without the phlegmy, gargly sound, or the deeper, rougher sound with the phlegmy, gargly sound. (kinda like trying to clear your throat very softly without roughing it up, verses doing it more rough and making that gargly sound) This all depends on the vowel sound preceeding it. I knew that the open 'oh' sound in 'doch' meant that it should be the deeper, rougher, gargly sound on the 'ch', but I forgot in that moment. I realized my mistake a few minutes after leaving from doing emails, and am now here to rectify the mistake. :) The 'do' makes a normal 'doh' sound, and the 'ch' makes the gargly, rough clearing your throat sound, all coming together as one syllable. 'doch'

My mother had realized a strange thing happening with my spelling: So, in German: the z, when at the beginning of a syllable, makes a 'ts' sound, like in the word pizza. 'pee-tsuh'. Anywhere else in the syllable, it makes an 's' sound. X/ The 's' in German normally makes a 'z' sound. This, I have no doubt, may be affecting my spelling. Funny. Gonna have to re-learn English a little when I come home. :P

Mom asked if we switch wards each week like the Elders in her area: We actually attend the same ward every week. In Germany we are called to serve in areas defined by ward boundaries, so we only have the one ward in our area. :) (I am not sure how it works with branches and districts when there aren't enough members. Those exist here in Germany, but I have not learned about them yet.)

Mom asked my favorite food this week: Bakery stuff. There is a wonderful treat here of a rather wide and flat and kinda dry pastry which is round, has crubles on top, and simple white frosting drissled on it. Very tasty. I have been buying it too much. :P Though I did finally get myself to stop buying candy to stash in my appartment. :P

I am now reading Articles of Faith, and was very fascinated by the take it gives on following the laws of the land. I loved the explination it gave and how clearly it seemed to define and explain how it ties in with LDS beliefs. It made a lot of sense, and affected the way I think. I would recommend it. :)

Short spiritual thought from my Grandma's email:

"When our belief is confirmed upon our souls by the Spirit of God, faith becomes a causative force in our lives, driving every thought, word and deeded heavenward. We pray for strength and guidance with trust -- just as they did. That's what it means to walk with 'faith in every footstep.' It was so for our pioneer ancestors, and it must be so for us today."

I challenge you all to work a little bit more to improve your faith. As it permeates your soul, you will see wonderful glorious differences and good changes in your levels of Light, kindness, and other Christ-like attributes. You will love it. You will come closer to Christ, His Peace, and His Love. I promise that in His name. :)

Have a wonderful week everyone! Thanks for all your letters! I love them! Talk to you next week!

- Elder Miles

7-16-12

Hey everyone! Happy monday once again. :) I hope this monday finds you all doing splendidly. :)

Got another email for you guys, consisting mostly of responses to things said by others in their emails. I hope you enjoy. :)

Crazy things that have happened to us?:
Well my companion and I did get approached by a Jehovah's Witness lady the other day getting off a bus. I missed most of what she said, because she was talking rather softly in a loud area, and companion didn't hear too much more than I did, but she was talking about how she was holy and we aren't, and other strange things. Wasn't too hateful, just seemed a bit rude. But she is just following her belief, and following Christ the only way she knows how. That is good in my eyes, though it does make things hard.

After a comment on how I am being exposed to many cultures:
It is interesting to get to know so many people. There are lots of Turkish people, some Russian people, I think I may have heard some French, I have seen plenty of Muslim women, and I am sure I have seen quite a few other kinds of people and been completely oblivious!

On the topic of weather:
I'm glad you guys got some rain! It has been raining here on and off for almost two weeks, two out of every three days or so. Pretty crazy. But it never lasts all day. Always sporatic weather. Two days ago it went from light rain, to heavy rain and thunder, to hail, then back to rain, and then mostly clear and sunny within the space of an hour. Pretty crazy!

After having discussed unexplained bouts of negative feelings:
My advice when your sad and don't know why? Search your soul. Pray. Meditate. Deep breaths (I know deep breaths sound cliche, but it is so true. It helps so much to mellow out and let go.) Find your balance again and figure out what's wrong. Sadness is NEVER a happy way to live. ;)

'Do you still have to pass off discussions?':
We don't pass off discussions or anything like that. We learn the content of the lessons in preach my gospel, and pratice teaching them, but there is no certification or test. And we are always encouraged to modify the order and time spent according to their needs. To teach only as much of each lesson as we have time for as we really work to teach for understanding and answer questions, and to teach them what they need, and not just what comes up next in the que. There is also a very large stress on following the Spirit. Being ready to ditch the lesson plan and follow promptings when they come.

'Do you have a favorite German word or phrase?':
My favorite word is one that does not translate very well. It's a phrase really: 'doch'. The o makes an 'oh' sound, and the ch is like the phleghm-y sound, but without the actual phleghm. Kinda like the same way you gargle, but you close your throat a little more so that the air passes through smoothly without the gargling sound. 'doch' The closest equivalent to this phrase in English is 'yuh-huh'. It is a contradiction to a negative. But only to a negative. i.e. Someone says 'I don't think that's possible.' You could say 'Doch!' As in you think it is too possible. 'I don't think the bus is coming.' - 'Doch!' - meaning, it is too! Etc. Fun phrase. Nothing like it in English which is sad. But that's ok. Fun to say too. :)

Now for a spiritual thought! The other day, we were teaching a family, and they expressed the concern that it is impossible to tell which church is correct. They all say that they are true, so many churches claim to be the true church of Christ, so how are they supposed to be able to differentiate.

In answer to this family's question we gave the following analogy: So my companion here has a favorite color, could you tell me what it is? They said that they of course had no idea. We followed to tell them that of course if they wanted to know his favorite color, the would need to ask -him-.

We went on to tell them that they had the Book of Momron in their hand, which they could read for themselves, and then pray about it, and ask God. God is the one with the answers. God has the truth. God would be able to tell you which church was his chruch. We invited them to read in the Book of Mormon, and then to pray. To ask God whether the Book of Momron is true, and whether our message was true.

They were very happy with our answer. They then understood that they could find out for themselves what is truth, and they commited to read and pray.

This truth of our Gospel applies to every aspect therein. When we want to know whether this Church is true, we can ask God ourselves, and if we ask in faith, believing that we will recieve, He will testify of it to us throuh His Holy Spirit. If you don't know about Joseph Smith, you can ask God about it. If you are having a hard time with something one of the Presidency or Twelve has instructed you to do during General Conference, you can ask God about it. If you pray and ask sincerely, with real intent, planning to act on the answer you recieve, our loving Father in Heaven will -always- let you know. You will feel the Holy Spirit testify to you, straight to your heart, that every piece of this Gospel is true. I can testify of that. I have proved this concept in my own life, and in the name of Christ our Lord, I promise that you can find the same.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Keep Christ close, and love those around you, no matter what. I'll talk to you next week. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

7-9-12

Dear blog readers!

Hello everyone. :) I hope you are all doing well this week. :) My post will be a bit short today other than my spiritual thought, because I spent so much time writing it. It is dedicated to my brother Andrew, because things he said inspired me to write it. I hope you all enjoy it. :)

Let's say that you have a very large bucket full of your soul. It has two handles, and is very wide and difficult to carry. We are striving to carry this massive tub, so to say, up the mountain of progression. Trying to carry our soul higher. Christ is always there. Often times we look to Him and we ask Him, tears in our eyes, why is my bucket so heavy? I am so tired. I don't know how much longer I can go.

We begin to dispair, and He always feels our pain. The problem is, we are often so busy dispairing, and telling Him how heavy it is, and asking him to take some of the weight out of the bucket, that we are completely deaf to His pleas to let Him help you carry.

'Your soul has two handles.' He says. 'Please, please let me take one. Let me help with some of the load.'

Finally we hear His plea. We let go. We stop worrying. We release our death grip on one of the handles and allow His careful loving hand to begin to bear us up. He begins to help you to see where to step. He begins to be able to help you find the path. Things become easier and easier. Our soul becomes lighter under His glorious influence, and we find peace. We begin to look around and the beautiful landscape. The wonderful flowers and view. The way becomes joyous and easy. Constantly moving up.

Then you see others. Other people carrying their souls. Christ is helping some of them too. You see how heavy it is for them. Your soul begins to yearn to help them. You look back at Christ and He smiles that bright loving smile that only he could muster. He tells you, 'I can carry this load. Will you please help these others?'

'Are you sure?' You ask him. 'My load is heavy, and the way is steep.'

He smiles again, and assures you, 'I am very sure. Let go. I've got you.'

That is the moral of this story. Let go. You are safe. You are taken care of. You will always be in charge of your soul. You decide which path to take. Chirst will always defer to you as he carries you up the mountain. But you don't have to stress. You don't have to carry it alone. You can stop worrying, and instead focus on helping others. As you work to help others up the mountain, the way will become brighter and brighter. You will be filled with the joy that can only be found by doing the work of Christ. Things will work out. As you let go of your stress over your own bucket, Christ will be able to lead it up better and better paths. The way will become easier, even though it never flattens out.

You can do it. Christ knows it, I know it, your loving Heavenly Father knows it. Be at peace. Matthew 11:28-30

"28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Follow Christ, do His work, the work of serving others, serving God, and you will find true rest.

Moroni 7:3 "Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven."

God loves you. Jesus the Christ loves you. Your friends and family love you. Let go of the stress. Don't worry. Things will work out. God is on your side and is always working, always doing everything for your good. For your joy. You just need to work with Him to get there. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week. :) I will mail you all again next week. :)

7-2-12

Hello everyone! A bit of a short one today, I apologize for that. But we should have the picures figured out this week, so hopefully you all get to see some of those. :)

First of all, I want to thank everyone that sent a birthday card. It turned out wonderfully because all of them came exactly on my birthday. Wonderful little thing to brighten up the day. :)

We got a new mission president! He got here a few days ago. We actually met him at a baptizm that we went to in another area yesterday. I like him a lot. I think we are going to enjoy being led by him. His wife is also very nice, and they are both lots of fun so far. :)

I have been hearing that there have been a lot of fires going on. I would ask you all to please remember that in your prayers. There are many people getting affected very hard by them.

The concept I stumbled across this week, which I remembered from having developed the idea earlier in my life, is the idea that we don't need to worry. When stressed or upset or anything negative, I remind myself as meaningfully as I can that it doesn't matter. I will do what I can. I will continue moving forward. I do not, however, need to worry myself about it. Everything will turn out. I just need to keep doing what I am supposed to, and moving forward. :) I try to prevent myself from judging others when judgement is not necessary. I try to stop myself whenever I find myself thinking negatively and remind myself that it doesn't matter. I strive to replace the thoughts with positive ones. :) I challenge you to look for opportunities to stop worrying and dragging yourself down. I hope you live happy. :)

Well, hopefully you all get to see some pictures this week. :) Have a wonderful week, and I will talk to you all next week! Keep Christ close. :)

.- Elder Michael Miles

Pictures:

  -My side of the main room. We also have a kitchen to the left, cant see that doorway in this pic, and then the entry way back through that doorway has a bookshelf and the clothes off to the right, and the bathroom is over on the left through another door.

 -Our little deck out back with the grill

-Telephone booth! Way cool.

 --There was a really cool Christus statue in a large church/cathedral courtyard right nearby that palace from picture four.

 -Went to this really big Castle/palace place. Walked for hours around the gardens and other buildings in the area. It was crazy

 -That doorway has a mustache!

 - (This one belongs with the other ones from the palace place) Gorgeous archway of greenery in the surrounding gardens of that Palace place. Way cool.

 -trying tea for the first time. It was apple cherry, and it wasn't bad. :)

 -the hot dogs, they came in glass jars! Weird huh.

 -cutting up the hot dogs

 -the dough

 -There was a really heavy rainstorm! It was crazy. If this picture actually uploaded, it should be me standing under a tree in the rain. There was some thunder, which made it rather cool, but mostly we just got really wet. Kinda forgot the umbrellas that day.

 -peeled an orange in one piece! Woohoo!

 -ready for the oven!

 -baking

 -all done and being delicious!

 -Elder Miles approved!

6-25-12

Happy Monday everyone! I hope things are going well, and that you are all enjoying summer. :) The summer here has been kinda crazy so far. Plenty of rain, some rather cold days, and some very hot days.

Not a whole lot to report. Cool member from Africa who had been having a hard time finding the Church in Germany showed up yesterday. Speaks English, and very little German. He didn't understand much of the meetings at all, but he was very happy to be there, and talked about how he would be there every week now that he knew where it was. I knew exactly how he felt not understanding the meetings. :P

As far as my spiritual thoughts this week, I would like to focus my thought on Christ. He is such a massive concept. Such a wonderous person. Through sheer love for us, He was enabled to suffer all things for all of God's children on all worlds for all of time. There is a wonderful quote, which seems to be a preface to a book written by a wonderful LDS woman. http://www.sober.com/forums/t/6580/talk+given+by+chieko+n+okazaki+lighten+up.aspx I encourage you to go read it. It is beautiful. I will also be posting a wonderful song on my blog that our stake Christmas choir sang a couple different Christmases. I hope you go listen to it.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. Remember Christ, and let Him play a bigger role in your day to day life. I promise you He would love to. I bear my testimony in His name that He truly is The Son of God. The Divine Redeemer. Our Loving Lord and King. Amen.

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

6-18-12

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having wonderful weeks! My email this week is going to be a little short. I hope that's ok.

Things are going well. We still have two investigators preparing for baptizm, and that's wonderful. :) They are learning a lot, and are happy to learn. They are even getting married, in part to live the law of chastity. :) Wonderful.

I thought I would share a piece of a conversation I was having with my grandma, and my mom:

"One thing I started working on before I left for my mission was the idea of 'retaliate with love'. When someone loves you, retaliate with love. When someone is not so nice to you, retaliate with love. Fighting punches with hugs. That kind of idea. :)"

This applies to all of life. When an unhappy thought comes up in your mind, retaliate at it with a loving thought. A positive replacement for the negativity. When someone says an unhappy thing, retaliate at them by thinking and speaking positively. It will help a lot. :)

I challenge you all to try to retaliate more and more with love. You will become so much more of a happier person.

I made pigs in the blanket this week finally! They turned out very well. They got a little darker brown than I would have liked, but they weren't really burned. They were delicious. I will attatch pictures. If they aren't up here on the post, bother my family about it. ;)

Well, have a wonderful week everybody! Retaliate with love, and don't forget to read in the scriptures. Make this a good week. :) I will close with a wonderful quote my grandma shared with me from a book she is reading:

"The injunction to repent is, in effect, an injunction to change one's mind. This is not a trivial requirement. In fact, it suggests a profound transformation. In Classical Greek, the word noos may be variously translated "mind," "thought," "reason," "intellect," "purpose," "will," "heart," "design," or, we might say, "mind as the active principle of the universe." In light of this, Jesus' commandment to repent, becomes a call for the transformation of the individual, the remaking of the self at the most profound level. Christ calls upon His listeners to become completely new creatures. Closely linked to that change, and in an interactive and inextricable relationship with it, is faith: We must believe the gospel as a sometimes precursor to, sometimes result for, the necessary transformation."

-Elder Miles

6-11-12

Hello everyone! I hope you can all honestly tell me you are doing well. :)

Things are going well this week. We got Jenifer and Elson commited to baptizm! Very cool. They are actually living together, and are not married, so they will be making the choice soon as to whether to get married or have one of them move out. Worst case scenario is that they drop the baptizmal date because they don't want to commit to a big, relationship changing decision like that. But I don't think that will happen. :)

We are teaching quite a few people, but to go down the list would be long and boring. :P

My new companion is great. We are getting along very well. There are always differences that one runs into, but there hasn't been anything of note. He's a fun guy from Middletown, Pennslyvania. Likes music a lot and has a guitar here in the field. Cool guy.

The weather here has been rather up and down. Some days warm enough for short sleeved shirts, other days cold enough for a coat. Rather intense. Not too bad though. I'm not really complaining. :)

I will now be including a couple sections from my correspondence with my uncle Walter again. He asks quite good questions. :)

He asked what we do for food on the run, I told him that there are bakeries everywhere, and we normally would just drop by one of those. Pastries, really nice bread, snack stuff like little sandwiches or even little pizza-looking things.

He asked about whether little kids said stuff to us a lot, he having gotten that a lot on his mission. - - There was actually one kid that came up and talked to us once. He said 'Was arbeiten Sie?' Which kinda translates into what work are you guys doing, or what are you up to kind of a thing. We told him we were missionaries, and he just kinda said 'Oh.' And pretty much walked away after that. Funny little moment. We also have had a couple different instances where teenagers hear us speaking English, and speak a couple phrases to each other loud enough for us to hear, and then laugh with each other about it. None of them ever actually try to really talk to us or anything. Funny people.

He asked whether I have been doing any splits or exchanges - - We do do exchanges actually. My last companion was district leader, and he is asked to do a lot of exchanges. We usually did them once a week. Did one with each of the other elders in our district, one with one of our zone leaders, and one other time with the elders in Neuköln. Was pretty intense. Weird to sleep somewhere other than my appartment, and be with someone other than my companion. Makes for some good adventures though.

In any case, I hope you all are doing well. I challenge you all to kick your Book of Mormon reading up a notch. If you don't read, try reading one verse a night. Not bad at all. It could be random, or it could be in order. If you already read each night, try moving it up a notch. Read more. Start using colored pencils to mark. Come up with a creative color coding that makes sense to you. You could try studying a topic instead of just reading at random or in order. I have heard that studying a topic can make for much more wonderful study time. Maybe try expanding what you are studying in. Jesus the Christ is wonderful. The Bible is always there. Conference talks are a great resource of modern day scripture. :) Try to keep the Book of Mormon in there every day though. :) Just do what you can! Challenge yourself! Go start enjoying the Gospel! It's such a glorious thing. :)

Have a wonderful week everyone. Go spread the Light you have. And if you don't have any, I have got to recommend finding some. :) Talk to you next week!

- Elder Michael Miles

6-3-12

Hello everybody! I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Gotta be a bit quick today, have a lot to respond to, and a lot going on today, but my uncle asked some very good questions, that made for some really good stuff to include. :)


Firstly, he asked if I had found any tasty cereal. -

I actually like the off brand frosted flakes pretty well. The granola here is also very delicious. Everything tastes rather different. Even name brand cereals have a completely different taste. And since the chocolate here is rather different, the chocolate cereal is way different. It was the first kind I got, and I haven't gotten any since. :P


Then the subject of delicious foods that I have found so far -

Hmmm... I think maybe the bread... They have a lot of tasty quality bread products around. I really like these things called spitzel rings. Kinda looks and tastes like a churro-style doughnut, minus the cinnamon.


He commented that root beer was a big deal back in his mission -

There is quite a bit of effort over here on the missionaries part to make root beer and such. You can buy classic A&W and such, but it's hard to find, and expensinve. It's rather a divided subject for Germans. Some people hate it, some people love it. But any German person that I have heard of that actually really tries it a couple times, grows to love it very quickly. They actually had quite a bit of it at a ward event a few days ago. Lots of people were drinking it.


He asked if we see people selling food on the street -

They do sell food on the street. I have seen bratwurst stands quite a bit. In very large busy areas, you will sometimes see guys will an entire grill setup with condiments and everything hanging off of their front like a massive reverse backpack. It's almost as big as they are. maybe I'll try to get a picture of one for you guys.


He asked about whether my companion and I pray and sing together, and talked about there being a lot of Elders in one appartmet where he had been -

There is usually two to an appartment here. Sometimes four. There is one appartment I know of that has six. My companion and I don't really have any traditions to sing or pray together at the end of the day. We get home, pray, plan, and then go about our own things, talking and relaxing until bed.


He asked how big my area is -

My area is rather large. I think you might be able to look it up online. The Berlin area has one central area, and then there are six areas coming out from that like spokes of a wheel which cover their little chunk of the circle, and extend out into the countryside, covering little 'dorfs' or small towns here and there. It's all very well connected by busses and trains. We spend a lot of time on public transportation, and then walk the rest of the way once we get as close as we can. We spend most of our time in the dense city though.


He asked me about terminology that my mission has -

Terminology... Well new people are called goldens, not greenies. They strive to make it a positive term. Goldens have 'golden power'. That mysterious ability to make miracles happen through hard work and effort, even though they don't have much skill at all. We also have a kind of 'mission geneaology' (I hope I spelled that right). My trainer is my father. His trainer is my grandfather. Other people that my trainer has trained are my brothers. Pre mission life is the pre-mortal life, the MTC is the womb, your first city is your birth city, going home is death. My dad is dying this tranfer and going home, and goldens are considered golden for two transfers, which means that my secondary trainer that finishes my golden training will be called my step-dad. We had a big conference call Saturday where the mission president was able to read off all of the transfers and everyone could listen from their phone. It was cool. My new trainer that will be coming tomorrow is named Elder Stoe. We'll see how that goes. Also, a missionary going home soon that stops working as hard is getting 'trunky'. They have packed their trunks and are cheking out early in their mind. My trainer has been doing well though not getting very trunky.

I hope those were cool things to hear about. :) I don't have a whole lot of time, or things to talk about... A couple investigators of ours have a baptismal date now, and that's very exciting. :) My companion has been doing a lot of getting ready to go home. Taking pictures with the investigators and members. Saying goodbye to people. It's been kinda nice to watch, and to see how much the relationship is there between him and these people.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Keep your Light shining. Find something positive that you are good at, and make it even brighter. On the flip side, find something your struggling with, and go make a plan! Work on it, pray about it. You got this. :) Talk to you next week!

-Elder Michael Miles