1-14-13

Hello everyone. :) Got a story for you.

Was down in Dessau (city in my area) again, on exchanges again. We looked at the bus and tram times for something like 20 minutes trying to decide if they would be helpful for our three appointments that evening, we decided yes, made sure we understood the times, and bought a day ticket. We got on the bikes for the start to get to our first appointment. Or at least, we thought we were headed there. Turns out I had misjudged the path I saw, we had to turn back after a couple minutes of riding and find the other route, up over the train tracks, and finally got to the first appointment, late. We then got out of that appointment with good time, and started taking the regular route back past the train station, when I remembered that we were gonna try a path through this big park that might save us time. The other bikes chain was getting loose, so it kept coming off, and after a couple times I checked it and realized that one of the links was broken on one side and was not going to keep the chain on for more than 10 seconds. :P (Oh by the way, the person I was on exchanges with, I was with because I am District Leader, and he is new. This was in his second week here.) We walked our bikes through the park, and got to the second appointment alright (all things considered) late once again. On the way out of that appointment, we watched the bus, which we were going to take, drive down the road. We had missed it, and had to walk back to the station. Bought ourselves a little tub of ice cream since we had some time, caught the train back, and had a nice restful evening talking and eating ice cream. :P Adventurous day. :)

Sometimes the Lord has other plans. :) The real trick is to take it as it comes, trust Him, and keep close to Him. We see a good example of this in Mosiah 23&24. The people of Alma were wonderful people, but God gave them more tough times, that their faith could grow even stronger, and they could be given more stepping stones, in the form of trials, to help them towards perfection, towards the increasing of their faith. Alma 23:21-22 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/23?lang=eng

Love you guys. Stay close to Christ. He loves you. God be with you. Go make it a good week. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

1-7-13

Hey everyone!

Pretty cold down here, but not too much so. I hear Utah is getting a pretty heavy cold snap. I hope you guys are all alright.

Also, Ein gesundes neues Jahr wünche ich euch.

Thing that all of the memebers have been saying. ^^^ It means that I wish you a 'healthy new year'. Silly Germans. :P

Spiritual thought!

3rd Nephi 7:17-18

17 And he did minister many things unto them; and all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice, therefore they are not written in this book. And Nephi did minister with power and with great authority.

 18 And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily.

This is just astounding to me to read. He had such amazing faith, and such a powerful, pure testimony, that they had nothing more to say. They couldn't even deny it. Wonderous. I challenge you to look at this and think about how you could improve the example that you give, and how you could improve your own testimony. How wonderful would it be to be able to let the Spirit truly work through you like this? I encourage you to let the Spirit work though you in the everyday ways. The example that we give to others. Kindness. The small moments of testimony bearing that we get. Doesn't even have to be a formal testimony. We convey a lot without direct words.

I love you guys. I hope the holidays treated you well, and I wish you the best as things start back up. Keep turned unto Christ. He's there for -you-.

- Elder Michael Miles

12-31-12

Too busy for a blog post this week, but he had a wonderful new year!

-Andrew Miles, his Brother.

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.