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