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
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
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
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
Thursday, June 7, 2012
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
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
Monday, May 28, 2012
5-28-12
It has been rather warm here. A bit humid, but not as bad as it was a
week or so ago. Still pretty comfortable. I worry about how bad it's
gonna get, but I try not to worry. I'm supposed to be here. So I know
I'll be able to handle the heat. :)
Ooh, had a pretty nice meal this sunday at a member's house. Had some chile concarne (spelling?) kinda stuff with corn and beans and meat and some onions. It was tasty. We also had rolls and juice. Afterwards, she served us some sticky rice stuff. I got the recipie from her. First you make plenty of rice. Then you mix equal parts brown sugar and coconut milk and mix well while cook until the brown sugar all melts and it gets sticky. Then start adding rice until it reaches a good consistency. It should turn out as rice with sticky tasty sauce stuff all over it. It shouldn't be runny or like pudding or anything. It was delicious. :)
I actually think that street contacting is more scary than doors. After you ring the doorbell, you're already in for it, so you just do what you can, and then walk away. With street contacting, you have to try to stop someone on the street and talk to them. And they are not very likely to stop and talk to you. And even when they do, once they hear that you are talking about religion, most of them say any one of a variety of kurt, though not overly rude phrases, all pretty much meaning no and walk away. Silly people don't know what they're missing out on. :)
Had a wonderful fireside last night (Sunday night) from one of President Pimmentel's old companions. Wonderful theme about miracles and going big and not letting opportunities pass you by. :)
Anyway, it seems that this post may be a little short, but I can't think of a whole lot else to talk about. -shrug-
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Feel free to email me if you aren't already. :)
Keep your Light and Happiness close. Never walk away from truly good and pure things. Keep your standards from slipping. And always remember to find the good. :) Talk to you next week!
-Elder Micahel Miles
Ooh, had a pretty nice meal this sunday at a member's house. Had some chile concarne (spelling?) kinda stuff with corn and beans and meat and some onions. It was tasty. We also had rolls and juice. Afterwards, she served us some sticky rice stuff. I got the recipie from her. First you make plenty of rice. Then you mix equal parts brown sugar and coconut milk and mix well while cook until the brown sugar all melts and it gets sticky. Then start adding rice until it reaches a good consistency. It should turn out as rice with sticky tasty sauce stuff all over it. It shouldn't be runny or like pudding or anything. It was delicious. :)
I actually think that street contacting is more scary than doors. After you ring the doorbell, you're already in for it, so you just do what you can, and then walk away. With street contacting, you have to try to stop someone on the street and talk to them. And they are not very likely to stop and talk to you. And even when they do, once they hear that you are talking about religion, most of them say any one of a variety of kurt, though not overly rude phrases, all pretty much meaning no and walk away. Silly people don't know what they're missing out on. :)
Had a wonderful fireside last night (Sunday night) from one of President Pimmentel's old companions. Wonderful theme about miracles and going big and not letting opportunities pass you by. :)
Anyway, it seems that this post may be a little short, but I can't think of a whole lot else to talk about. -shrug-
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Feel free to email me if you aren't already. :)
Keep your Light and Happiness close. Never walk away from truly good and pure things. Keep your standards from slipping. And always remember to find the good. :) Talk to you next week!
-Elder Micahel Miles
5-21-12
Hello everyone! I hope your weeks have been going well. Mine has been.
We had some cold weather too. Cloudy and windy. We have had a couple days now though with very nice warm weather. And today is shaping up to be very warm and pretty. :)
The food has been strange, but not horrible. When something comes along that I really just do not want to eat, it is usually simple enough not to eat it. The families are all very nice, and all seem to understand that I might not like all of what they are serving. It's nice.
Still planning on making pigs in the blanket and such. Found some meat that seems to closely resemble hot dogs, and my companion says that it's about as close as we're going to get as far as flavor. They come in jars! A lot of things come in glass jars here. It's odd.
The work out here is going well. A lot of people that we can't seem to get a hold of, and plenty of people canceling on appointments, or not showing up. But it doesn't bother me. Did doors for the first time the other day. Liked it more than street contacting. It wasn't so bad. Helped me to think about relying on the Lord, and simply conveying his message. :)
I also have been striving to simplify how I think about the Gospel. I feel that I have a full, great understanding of it all, but I very easily get caught up in the details, and that can be bad in a lesson, because it can confuse the investigator, and distract the overall atmosphere from the true message of the lesson. It is nice learning to simplify. :)
Things are going well out here in any case. Plenty well off buying groceries and such. (Easier than I thought ;P) Getting along well with my companion. He is easy going and laid back, and a good missionary. Weird though, because he is going home after this transfer. Normally a new missionary would get two transfers (three months) with his first trainer, but I am going to have only one transfer (six weeks), and then I will have a new trainer. A 'step dad'. Your trainer is called your dad, his trainer is your grandpa, etc. Other people that your trainer has trained are your brothers, the end of your mission is death, the start is birth, your first area is the area you were born in, lots of funny terminology.
Anyway, I'm off. Have a wonderful week everyone! And remember, at the end of the day, no matter what kind of a day you have had, you are always the one in charge of how you feel about how that day went. You decide whether to focus on all the disappointments and shortcomings, or the positives and progress. Decide to dwell on happy things, and keep moving forward. Have fun! Talk to you next week. And feel free to email me if you aren't already. (Cody, Danny, would love to hear from you.)
Elder Michael Miles
We had some cold weather too. Cloudy and windy. We have had a couple days now though with very nice warm weather. And today is shaping up to be very warm and pretty. :)
The food has been strange, but not horrible. When something comes along that I really just do not want to eat, it is usually simple enough not to eat it. The families are all very nice, and all seem to understand that I might not like all of what they are serving. It's nice.
Still planning on making pigs in the blanket and such. Found some meat that seems to closely resemble hot dogs, and my companion says that it's about as close as we're going to get as far as flavor. They come in jars! A lot of things come in glass jars here. It's odd.
The work out here is going well. A lot of people that we can't seem to get a hold of, and plenty of people canceling on appointments, or not showing up. But it doesn't bother me. Did doors for the first time the other day. Liked it more than street contacting. It wasn't so bad. Helped me to think about relying on the Lord, and simply conveying his message. :)
I also have been striving to simplify how I think about the Gospel. I feel that I have a full, great understanding of it all, but I very easily get caught up in the details, and that can be bad in a lesson, because it can confuse the investigator, and distract the overall atmosphere from the true message of the lesson. It is nice learning to simplify. :)
Things are going well out here in any case. Plenty well off buying groceries and such. (Easier than I thought ;P) Getting along well with my companion. He is easy going and laid back, and a good missionary. Weird though, because he is going home after this transfer. Normally a new missionary would get two transfers (three months) with his first trainer, but I am going to have only one transfer (six weeks), and then I will have a new trainer. A 'step dad'. Your trainer is called your dad, his trainer is your grandpa, etc. Other people that your trainer has trained are your brothers, the end of your mission is death, the start is birth, your first area is the area you were born in, lots of funny terminology.
Anyway, I'm off. Have a wonderful week everyone! And remember, at the end of the day, no matter what kind of a day you have had, you are always the one in charge of how you feel about how that day went. You decide whether to focus on all the disappointments and shortcomings, or the positives and progress. Decide to dwell on happy things, and keep moving forward. Have fun! Talk to you next week. And feel free to email me if you aren't already. (Cody, Danny, would love to hear from you.)
Elder Michael Miles
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Skype call.
We (Michael's Family) were able to talk to him today on mothers day.
Here are some screenshots of the call. The person in the second photo is
his current Companion.
Monday, May 7, 2012
May 7th 2012
Hello everyone! It's
crazy, it feels like it's been like 2 weeks since I emailed last! I hope
things are going well for everyone.
Things have been kinda crazy, but good. Still picking up more
German every day, but having a hard time understanding a lot of people. I
need to be patient though. I know it will come eventually. It is odd to
me that I can communicate ok, I just can't understand. Seems like
normally it's the other way around from what I hear. Usually people talk
about being able to understand but not being able to speak it. I guess I
simply haven't had enough exposure yet to native speakers.
We have a grill out on our back deck. ... I don't know if I told
you that already... It's been fun though. We have roasted some
marshmallows and tried to do hotdogs once, but they didn't really taste
like hot dogs... :P
We had a baptizm yesterday! It was a pretty cool spiritual
experience. Everyone was all excited and I felt a little awkward not
being even close to as excited as they were. But it doesn't really feel
like my baptizm because I only showed up to watch it happen. I didn't
really get to help it happen. That's ok though. The litle bit of
participation I did get was very cool. It was a very spiritual
experience.
I still don't understand most of the church meetings. I'm getting
better and better at conversations though. As long as the person speaks
clearly, doesn't use big words, and doesn't say too much at once,
thereby giving me ample time to process each question and statement, I
can actually carry on conversation rather well. I know that I am messing
up a lot of conjugation, but that's ok. They still understand me.
Another tricky thing about the German language is that they have
two forms of the word you. The formal version is 'Sie', and the informal
is 'du'. When someone is a young teenager or younger, or one of your
peers, or a close friend, you use the 'du' form. Otherwise, it is
respectful to use the 'Sie' form. If you try to use the 'du' form with
someone, especially someone rather older, that you do not know, they can
get rather offended, depending on the person. It's a tricky thing...
Also, close friends that you use the 'Sie' form with might feel that you
are being unecessarilly cold and formal... It's ok though. I'm slowly
getting used to it. :)
So as you all may know, mission rules vary greatly depending on
your mission president. One of the changes that my mission president has
decided on, is that it takes just as much time and distraction, if not
less, to write an email, as it does to write a letter. Thereby, we have
express permission to take up email correspondences with all those that
would normally write us letters. We therefore do not really set aside
time for letter writting, only emails. If you do want to keep in
correspondence with me, please feel free to email me at mmiles@myldsmail.net. I would be happy to hear from you.
Along those lines:
-Grandma and Grandpa Miles, please do email me.
-Grandma Diane, I plan to respond to your letters via email at some point. Forgot to bring your letters along with me today. X/ Please feel free to write me. I'd love to hear from you. :)
-Grandma Diane, I plan to respond to your letters via email at some point. Forgot to bring your letters along with me today. X/ Please feel free to write me. I'd love to hear from you. :)
-ShayleeAnn, I sent you an email in response to your letter. I hope
it got to you. Couldn't remember if I got your email address right.
Hope to hear from you soon. Let me know if you didn't get any email.
-Erick, I want to write you back via email, but I don't have your
address. Please email me and I will make sure to respond to your letter.
Looking forward to it.
-Molly, I also am lacking your email address. Prompt supplying of
such would be greatly appreciated. I would love to hear from you.
-Any others that would like to continue writting me, I would love to hear from you! Talk to you then. :)
-Again, that address is mmiles@myldsmail.net.
The food has been a bit different, but not too much so. The few
eating appointments we have had so far have been stomachable and at
least mildly enjoyable. :)
We are rather well off financially, and are able to buy rather good
food thereby for our appartment. That's been nice. The cereal tastes
totally different. Will have to find new favorites...
Been reading a whole lot in Jesus the Christ lately. It has been
really cool to read. Really eye opening and explanatory. Love it love
it. I would once again encourage you all to read it. :) Also, do all
that you can to read from the scriptures, particularly the Book of
Mormon every day. The modern-day prophets have promised a LOT of
blessings for doing so. And there are NO excuses. Even if it means
taking ten minutes out of your sleep before you go to bed, I can promise
you that it will be worth it. Heavenly Father will always help you find
the time, or help you get the rest you need in spite of having stayed
up the extra few minutes. You'll thank yourself for it. :)
I love you guys. Thank you so much for your support. Make this week
a wonderful week. You always have the choice. Keep Christ close. He
will always watch out for you. And lastly, remember to love. :)
Oh! One more thing! I don't know if I've shared this already, but
there was a sister back in the MTC that shared a cool idea. Someone told
her that whenever they are taking the sacrament, they listen to the
water cups drop back into the tray, and they are always reminded of the
sound of drops of blood that Christ so lovingly suffered for that
person's sins that week. She said it changed the sacrament for her
forever. Now it has done the same for me. It brings me so much more
reverence and focus. I hope you all can benefit from similar Christ
focused thoughts during your Sabbath-day observance. :)
Talk to you next week!
-Elder Miles, Lieutenant Mikey, Michael, Calcium
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