Video

If you would like to see Elder Miles in a music video that his district made, go to this link:

http://germanyberlinmission2012-15.blogspot.de/2013/12/german-advent-preparation-time.html

12-16-13

Oh, on that note, I have been needed for translating for the Americans in our Ward the last few weeks. It is so hard! I am sitting there, trying to listen to the speaker, not hearing everything they say, having to wait until the end of the sentances (some of which are -very-  run-on) before I hear the verb (which belongs at the end of the German sentance in most cases, but is needed for the beginning of the English sentances), and getting tangled up by the more complex and obscure words. Then as I understand one part, and begin translating it, trying to find the English equivlants, I have to put in large mental effort to keep paying attention to what is said, or I would only be able to convey every other idea to the listeners, switching between listening and translating... such a challenge... I would love to translate from German to English so much more... That way you understand everything that is said (in your native language, you understand most accents, mumbled or quickly said words are still easily understandable, and almost none of the words are new or undefined in your vocab), and then are able to express it with the words you know in the other language. Would be so much nicer...

The other day, the Sisters who work in our area talked to a man on the street. He expressed a surprising amount of interest to their brief intro of our message. They gave him a Book of Mormon in his native language, and invited him to Church, not sure what would come of it. (We do a lot of inviting to Church, and don't often see all of the peoople we invite actually at Church, and usually only after we have had some appointments with them and really had the chance to teach them.) This man, after his brief introduction, had begun reading in the Book of Mormon of his own initiative, and came to Church. We were happy to recieve him and will be meeting with him this week to start teaching him. :)

Our God is a God of miracles. :)

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas season, and a receptive mind for the wonderful focus and reminders we have during the CHRIST-mas time. :)

Another random thought I have been processing a lot this last week. I have been working on reacting to others as I would treat Jesus Christ. Especially under the context that He has to experience every way that I interact with others. I really am doing what I do not only to the individual, but also to Christ, He having experienced their lives in full during the Atonement. It has been helping me a lot to treat others better. (when I can remember it. :P ) I can recommend it. :)

God bless you and be with you. Stay in the Light, and let your good desires work in you. :)

Love you. :)

-Elder Miles

12-9-13

Hi everyone! Sorry about the post drought. :( I have some stuff this week though, just little snippets from other emails

I was astounded to find out what the actual rules for tea were in the Church when I came out here. I used to be completely unsure, and just kinda thought that all tea was against the word of wisdom. Turns out I was wrong. You just need to watch out for black, green, white,  and onlong teas. They are all made from the actual 'tea plant'. As far as my experience with tea, I have always heard very good things about Camomile and Peppermint teas. They are supposed to help with colds. Also, Camomile tea is also supposed to help with relaxation and stomach problems, and peppermint is supposed to also help with diareah and headaches. (these are all health tips from Sister Kosak (Mission President's wife)) I have also heard very good things about the anti-bacterial qualities of lemon juice and honey. Sometimes, I mix Camomile and Peppermint tea in one cup, and then put in honey and lemon juice. I keep changing the name of it, but I call it things like 'destructo tea, ulti-tea, tea of doom, etc.' I feel like it's helped with snipping a cold in the bud, and it actually tastes pretty good. :)

The German here sounds a little different, but not really. -shrug- Though there are little things. Like how in the South-East (Sachsen, Brandenburg, etc.) they say 'bissel' instead of 'bisschen', and here, as a greeting they say 'moin' or 'moin moin'. (I think that started out as a shortened version of 'guten morgen' shortened to 'morgen' shortened to 'moin', and then, in this area, they started using that as a general greeting, instead of just in the morning. Sometimes, in other areas of Germany, you will occasionally hear 'moin' as a form of 'good morning/guten morgen', but only ever when it's actually morning.)

Side note, I have been transfered to Hamburg, Altona Ward. It is great here. We even got some snow for a little before it melted the next day. :P 

God bless you. I challenge you all to let go of the 'flaxen cords' with which the adversary would bind you. The little things that would pull you away. You can always let go. You are free. Christ, through His Sacrifice, has made it possible. He loves us. Of these things I bear testimony, in the name of the Good Shepherd, even Jesus Christ, amen. :)

Have a great week! Love you all!

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

11-18-2013

Oh. Interesting thing. Because the Germans don't have the big holiday of Thanksgiving, and because they start celebrating Christmas with the 'Advents' (the 4 Sundays before Christmas), they start putting up decorations and stuff much earlier. This last week, the city has already started putting up some of the decorations on street lamps and stuff. Though none of it is lit. And a member told me that some Germans get very upset when you decorate and start turning on the lights before 'Toten Sonntag' (dead's Sunday/Sunday of the Dead). It is a sort of memorial day for them, where they visit graves and leave lots of flowers and stuff. It's a really big deal here. And there's some kind of superstition about how you shouldn't set up/turn all your Christmas lights before that day. It's supposedly disrespectful of the dead or they don't like all the lights or something... Odd. :P But the member house we're in right now is working on decorating as we speak, and has Christmas music playing. :)

1 - French Toast!

2 - A random little man-made pond/lake thing in Bagenz.

3 - Awesome view of a factory in a city called Peitz. It was dark, we were walking back to the train, and there was a little man-made lake right in front of it. I thought it looked super cool, so I took a picture. :)

4 - (Kinda out of order) Me cooking the french toast!

9-23-13

Study:

Lately we are reading the Book of Mormon together as a Mission, and focusing on the Atonement. As I was reading thorough I hit the vision of Nephi (Nephi 11-14?) and was very impressed by something. Almost every time that the Spirit of God in the vision referred to Christ, he said The Lamb of God. I checked and realized that there are only a small handful of other times in the Book of Mormon that Prophets refer to Christ by this title. But in those few chapters, the Spirit of God says is quite a lot. It made me wonder if that's just the title The Spirit normally uses or something... Was interesting. I was also impressed by the title itself. A title that really described the Atonement in a powerful way in just a couple words. 'The Lamb of God' The imagery we have when we think about his title is also supported quite nicely by the imagery and types and shadows that God showed to us in the Law of Moses. Christ is the offering of God. What God is giving up in order to save us. Giving His Son. Powerful concept. I liked it a lot. :)

Random other cool things:

We went to a baby amusement park last week called Teichland http://www.erlebnispark-teichland.de/. It was fun. Got to climb the tower, ride the little roller sled things a few times, and ride a little sky lift thing. Many of the other attractions were shut down because the weather is gettting colder, and quite a few of them we just didn't have the motivation or time to go on. Kinda wanted to play some mini-golf, but didn't have time.

Anna is getting baptised! We set a date for October 12th. We are super excited and so is she and so is Elder Thorkelson (who is now in Minden). We had a very powerful lesson where we got to ask her a lot. We talked about what she thinks of the Church and the Book of Mormon, what feelings she has been having, and how it has been changing her. She expressed how good it all felt, the good it was doing for her, how her faith was growing, and how she has been changing for good, becoming more aligned with God. We then were able to challenge her to Baptism, and she accepted. X)

I know that God is in this work. He is a God of Miracles, and He loves us. :) I testify of that in the Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

8-19-13

Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well. I'm doing pretty well. :)

Not a whole lot to say this week, but I can tack on a couple things at least. :)

Germany things:

They use a lot of graphed paper. Perhaps more than lined paper.

I'm used to only seeing alchohol as beer in gas stations, or tucked away in liquor stores (perhaps that is very different in other states in the US), but here they just have it sitting out all over the place in grocery stores, or any store really. Weird.

I can't seem to find any balogna.

They have oreos, but they aren't as good. :P

They have massive yogurt sections at the grocery store. Everything you can imagine mixed with yogurt. Also, they spell it jogurt because they pronounce the j as our y sound. (their y sounds like ü. don't worry about that one.)

Spiritual thing:

Mark 2:17 - When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

The Gospel isn't for perfect people. It's for people still learning and progressing. It's also not for the unrepentant sinner either. We have to be working at striving at it. :)

Preach My Gospel pg. 6: "The purpose of the gospel is to cleanse people of their sins so they can receive the Savior’s mercy at the day of judgment."

You don't need to worry about beating yourself up for falling short of perfection after you strive. You don't need to compare yourself to other people. You just need to keep taking steps. Keep working.

“Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' " - Thomas S. Monson

You can do it. :) Just keep improving. - 2 Ne. 28:30 - "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, ^aprecept upon precept, here a little and there a little ..."

Christ has your back. You can do it, with Him. :)

2 Ne. 25:23 - "... for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

Trust in the Savior who loves you with all His Godly Heart. :) I testify in His Name that He will support you and help you to progress. Isaiah 41:10 - "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

I say these things in the Sacred Name of Jesus Christ, Amen. :)

Have a wonderful week. :) Go do something fulfilling. :)

- Elder Michael Bright Miles

8-1-13

Ooh. Got to use a scythe a few days ago. Some Germans still have them from when their families used to use them for farm work. They look totally legit and homemade. Now they just use them for when their grass gets really tall. They trim it down with the scythe before hitting it with the lawn mower. We helped a lady with her lawn and got to use one to trim it before we mowed it. It was fun. :)

Things are going well. :)

Spiritual something:

Alma 8:9-13 - Life can get discouraging. Sometimes people around us are making bad choices despite our best efforts, sometimes we fall short, sometimes things just don't turn out the way we want it to, despite everything we do. And sometimes we feel like we have failed God. Missionaries run into this problem a lot. Often we feel like we are giving our best, and yet we are not seeing the results we expected. We become discouraged. Let's read further.

verses 14&15 - This is a powerful principle. One might think that Alma had just 'failed' in the city of Ammonihah, and yet this angel is telling him 'blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice'. And why? 'for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God'. That is success. Alma was successful because he was obedient. Because he was striving. I testify that God loves us and sends us exactly what we need. I testify that true success and happiness comes not from our circumstances or from things around us, but from us. When we are striving and being obedient and following God, then we are donig what is expected of us, and we can be assured. I testify that Jesus Christ lives and that He has shown us the way. He helps us at every step. He asks us to keep stepping forward. We can do it. :) I say these things in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.