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