6-10-13

I am getting transfered! Surprise! (6-10-13)

I am going to a place called Forst. It is to the right of Cottbus (Cottbus is south,southeast of Berlin, north of Dresden). I'm gonna be right on the Polish border. :P I will also be serving with my favorite Missionary, best Mission friend Elder Thorkleson. I am so very excited. X) (try searching for him on the current mission blog and on the old one, should be able to find pics (old one:http://germanyberlinmission.blogspot.de/)) We are whitewashing in. That means we have both never been there before. We are stoked.

Whitewashing doesn't happen all that often. Forst is really pretty. :) Small and nice, and the ward is really big for Germany, and for how small the town is. I haven't noticed a pollish accent at all, but they have a bit of a Sechsisch accent here. Not too bad though. (About the same as in/as bad as Köthen, but with a bit less influence from the Berlin area.

The ward is wonderful. They are very good to us, good about joint teaches, and all very active, strong members. When they found out that my birthday was coming up, a family approached us and told us that we now had an appointment with them that evening. :P Was funny. Excited for that. And to bake my cake that day. :)

Elder Thorkelson and I are both rather musical, so we are planning on doing some musicl numbers together for the ward and for missionary meetings.

Oh! There is a senior couple in our District that keep a blog: thegorlitzdistrict.blogspot.com.  Görlitz is the name of the city where the couple is serving, and where the District Leader is. We have district meetings at the couple's house. Because the District Leader is in Görlitz, we call the District: District Görlitz. The couple's name is Bauman.

I used to go to bakeries more in Berlin. I love getting the simple jelly-filled doughnuts (often called Berliners) and another pastry that is wide and flat and dense and has crumbs and drizzled glaze on the top. :)

Those really are their staples. Bread, meat, cheese. They don't eat it for every meal, but it is a common thing. And they have enough variety in those categories, that it doesn't get boring. :) It's kinda like how often we eat sandwiches for lunch. They do bread meat and cheese, and eat it for dinner.

 

6-17-13

Michael was not able to write a blog post this week. But he loves you all, and loves the work!
-Andrew Miles

5-27-13

Michael had to be quick this week, but he has a spiritual thought to share real quick,

Firstly - D&C 121:1 / Matt 27:46

Often it feels as though God has forsaken us or forgotten us somehow. Often we feel overwhelmed and as though we somehow have drifted far from God, and know not where to find Him. I think we all know this feeling. But let's look at a couple more scriptures:

1 Ne. 21:14-16 (Isa. 49:14-16) / Matt 10:29-31

God promises us that he has not forgotten us. That He thinks about us. That we are important to Him.

And lastly - D&C 24:8 / Isa 41:10

God is always with us. Sometimes we don't feel it, but we have His ~promise~ that He is there. Just press forward in faith. Fear not. He loves you and will ~never~ forsake you.

6-3-13

Hi everyone! Gotta be quick, but I have some stuff ready. :)

Germany stuff! (brought to you by the clever asking of Danny)

- Lots of bakeries. Just little cafes where you can go in and buy nice breads and pastries and rolls and stuff and they usually have coffee there as well.
- There also is more support from the Government for little stores that specify in one kind of product (big chains with a little of everything, like wal-mart, being discouraged and given less help(there are no wal-marts in Germany that I know of)).
- Fast food is also a lot more expensive here. At Subway for example, they kinda do the 5-dollar foot-long thing, but it's not as wide, like it's only at specific times or for very speicific sandwiches, and they do it in Euros (5 Euro foot-long). If you look, at the exchange rate, it turns out to be a much sadder deal than in the states.
- People eat a big lunch, it being the real big meal, and then usually eat 'Abendbrot' (eveningbread) where they just have rolls and other bread where you take a slice and put on some cheese and meat and eat it. Big full time jobs often give big long lunch breaks so people can go home or go out to eat and have a good big lunch.

Spiritual stuff! I want to share with you an experience that I had with an investigator the other day. :)

Had an awesome appointment the other day! We are meeting with an older gentleman who is a strong Christian (Catholic) who has been meeting with the missionaries for a while now. (1-2 years) He has a strong testimony of Christ and a good knowledge of the scriptures and the Catholic Church. He is very kind and admirably humble. He even says that he probably would have already joined our chruch if it weren't for his strong Catholic roots. Awesome guy. In any case, we had a great joint teach (Br. Glück) who was really open and friendly with him, helped us review the Restoration of the Gospel with us really powerfully and got him thinking, asking him to think about what questions he has in life that we could discuss. We then visited him during the week shortly, shared Amos 3:7 with him "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." and emphasized how the scriptures (the words of God through the Prophets) can truly help him with his questions and concerns. He seemed to really feel the idea and said he would think about his questions. When we met with him yesterday we were really able to talk to him, he opened up and told us about how he has been having troubles since his wife died 15 years ago and doesn't feel like he is getting answers to what he is praying about. Expressed a fear that he had done something horribly wrong, or is doing something horribly wrong for which God is punishing him, or something like that. We were able to tell him very powerfully about how God loves him and cares about him and wants to help him. We promised him that God is listening (he didn't really doubt that God listened, just felt like God wasn't really doing anything about his prayers) and we were able to just perfectly share Alma 7:11-13 (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/7?lang=eng) and  Matthew 7:7-11 (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/7?lang=eng)

. We told him that Christ wants to help him and is answering his prayers, even if he doesn't see how they are being answered. He looked like he was getting choked up here and there and bore huge grattitude for what we had shared. He said we were freeing him of a burden he had been carrying for 15 years and that he had hope again. It was wonderful and I felt the Spirit very strongly. Even got choked up a bit as I was reading those scriptures to him and testifying to him. :P He also then told me that I was going to make a great therapist one day. :P That was fun. In any case, it was a wonderful appointment. Hope you enjoyed the story. :)

I want to bear testimony that following in the footsteps in Christ, partaking of this wonderful Truth and Joy of the Gospel, and then even more so, the abolute Joy of partaking of it with others is the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt. I have a testimony that it is the most wonderful feeling a man can have. (1 Ne. 8:12/1 Ne. 11:22) (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8?lang=eng - http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/11?lang=eng) God loves you so much. He listens to you. I testify of these things in the name of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, amen. :)

Go have an awesome week! Don't forget to smile. :)

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

5-2-13

Hello all!

The week has been hard, but the good kind of hard. The hard work kind. The kind that makes you stretch and grow. Sometimes I don't want it, but good thing that God knows better. :)

So the other day I was doing some simple tracting on exchanges with one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Jex. Elder Jex knocked on a door, and out comes a mildly grumpy old man who starts being a little bit contradictory to what Elder Jex was saying, but not really in a negative way. We talked to him for a bit, and the conversation evolved to where we had a rather nice talk with him for about an hour. Very talkative. He was very friendly after the conversation got moving. He didn't give us much opportunity to share much sadly. Kept changing the topic away from Gospel stuff, but then he reffered us to a friend of his a street over. Upon telling this second man (Herr Schumann (Herr=Mr.)) that we had just talked with his friend, he began talking with us very comfortably, practiced some rather passable English with us, and was happy to set up an appointment with us, pretty much without any questions. Very nice man. It was very cool. Had never really experienced a refferal from a random person before. Wonderful to see the Hand of God in the work. :)

Random German thing!

Every other car is a hatchback-style car.

They do actually drive on the right side of the road. I was worried they would drive on the left.

Their licence plates reference what city the car is regestered in (if you live in too small of a village, you have to go to a nearby larger city to do it), as opposed to the USA plates where it is State-themed.

The traffic lights go from green, to yellow, to red, and then after the red, it transitions back through yellow before turning green. I am not sure why the drivers need a warning that the light will turn green. I think it should just turn green. :P They probably have a good reason though.

Spiritual Thing!

Today I want to testify about Stewardship. Let me share a couple stories, the first being a bad example, the second being an experience of mine.

First story: There was once a young woman who was trying to decide what college to go to. There were various factors that made this decision rather large for her, and she was having a very hard time. She prayed a lot about it, and even tried fasting, but still felt unsure. She then felt that she should seek a Priesthood blessing. There was a Brother in the ward who was a very good family friend, and who she respected as being very spiritual. She went to this friend and asked for a Priesthood blessing. He was happy to. During the course of the blessing this family friend suddenly changed direction. He began telling this young woman that she was to become his second wife, and that they would take some 'choice' people with them and leave to start their own religeous group. She felt a very strong feeling that she mistook for the Holy Ghost and ended up going with this man. I am not sure about the fate of this little group that the man started, but I am sure it didn't last long.

The second story I would like to share is a simple experience I had just the other night. I was talking on the phone with some members of my District who are rather new. The one is only about 5 months out, and the other is brand new. I have been called as their District Leader, and was talking with them after having collected the weekly numbers. I asked if they had any questions, and after a brief pause, they told me they couldn't think of anything. I then felt like I should ask further for some reason and more specifically asked if there was a part of the work they were having a hard time with. One of them then explained a piece of the work that they were struggling with, that they had seen another missionary do well while they were on exchanges. I felt prompted and was able to share my experiences with that missionary, and some principles in the work that might help them. They thanked me, and the call was pretty much over.

Ok. You may have already guessed what I am getting at here. There is a very important principle in the Gospel called Stewardship. The President of the Chruch has the Stewardship for the church, the Stake President for the Stake, the Bishop for the Ward, the father for the family, etc. When someone is given a calling to serve any group of people, such as Area Seventy, District Leader, or even Father to their children, they are given special help from God in which they can better serve these people. Special direction.

This poor young woman from the first story made a mistake in asking a family friend to help her receive council from God, when she could have turned to her father or home teachers or Bishop. In contrast, God used me to convey some direction to Missionaries I am serving, as the called leader. I am not trying to tell you I am better than the man who gave the blessing. That is not the point. The real difference is Stewardship. God gives us a pattern in all things. He gives us leadership that we can always turn to. He sends us people and routes through which we can receive guidance from Him. God loves you and He wants to help you. He will send you help as you turn to the sources He has sent you. Do not be deceived. The adversary would love for you to look ANYWEHRE but to God. The media, movie stars, palm readers, etc. Don't trust it. Look unto God's pattern. Look unto God's Word. He will not deceive you. He will not yank you around. He will not cloud your mind. He will give you help. Exaclty as you need it. Even if sometimes it doesn't seem like enough. Just trust Him. :) His love for you runs deeper than the sea and higher than the stars. I testify that you can trust His established patterns and Church.

Jacob 6:12 - O be wise; what can I say more? :)

And I say this in the Sacred Name of Jesus Christ, Amen. :)

Have a wonderful week! I wish you the best. God be with you. Stay in the Light. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

5-13-13

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all having a good week. I am for one. Hard, but good. The good kind of hard. The kind of hard that challenges you to climb higher. :)

German thing!

They say their numbers backwards for some reason. Any time they express a tens-place number (like sixty or twenty or ninety) they always express the ones-place number first. Very confusing:

63 - 'three and sixty' (dreiundsechzig)

29 - 'nine and twenty' (neunundzwanzig)

Strange. They even admit themselves that it makes no sense to switch them.

They also do not include spaces in numbers:

82,641 - 'twoandeightythousandsixhundredoneandfourty' (zweiundachtzigtausendsechhunderteinundvierzig)

Random experiences!

~(this is where you insert the paragraphs etc.)~

Spiritual part!

For the spiritual section, I would like to recommend something that I recently tried out that I heard from my old companion Elder Tolbert: writing a letter to God. I decided to try it out after a good evening where I felt I had learned quite a bit and wanted to talk to God and thank Him and solidify and understand what I had learned. I went to someplace quieter and began writing I expressed my thanks as best I could and began writing to Him. I went slowly, trying to ponder on what I wanted to say, and listening for what God was telling me. I even wrote down questions and then would stop and ponder and listen for the ideas and feelings that came. It was a very special experience. I received a lot of instruction and of course went to record these feelings and teachings (for spritual instruction not recorded is spiricual instruction lost, and one could even say disrespected).

I encourage you to try this. Make it something real. Take it seriously. It is just like a very concentrated, deliberate kind of prayer. It will be cool. :)

I wish you all a wonderful week. :) God be with you. Keep close to the Light you know. :)

- Elder Michael Miles

5-6-13

No time for blog again. But I have some stories you could use if they seem good:

We were up in an area doing doors this last week in a very nice area where very rich people must have lived. We also came across a couple houses where there was no name on the doorbell. We were pretty sure that it meant that the person did not want you to know who they were, as in they were super famous. It was interesting.

We were also talking to a guy who we meet with every Sunday who is very Catholic. We were talking about how we can become like God. He had a hard time accepting it. He kept talking about how satan (in Genesis) says to Eve 'you will not surely die [...] your eyes will be opened, and ye shall be AS GODS, knowing good and evil' (Gen. 3:4-5) and how that idea of becoming as gods was a direct lie from Satan, words of the adversary. We then talked about the scripture that comes up a bit later (verse 22) where God says: 'the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil'. God acknowledges that Adam and Eve had become like Him. He had -never- noticed that scripture before. He was left rather wordless. We also talked about how they had the command to have kids and could not fulfill it in the garden. He was then very pensive and told us he would have to read back over it and then we could talk again. It was interesting.