Elder John Miller

Elder John Miller

Monday, May 30, 2016

Cook Inlet YSA, Alaska Anchorage Mission, Week 41

Howdy again,

This week has been pretty much awesome. I got a light sunburn because
we've been outside so much and it's so nice out. Looks like it's going
to be cloudy for the next little while, but it was worth it. Rocking
the short sleeved shirt is always nice. Gotta love it.

So some awesome things happened this week, first and foremost being
that Marc passed his baptismal interview and will be being baptized
next Saturday! That's what's up! He's the best and I am so excited for
him. I love it so much.

Jackson, who is also on date, is also a boss. He asked us for a
blessing and he is super committed! It's the best! I love being a
missionary it's the best life.

Also, we got robbed! How cool is that? We went out to the car one
morning and it had been broken into! They stole our jackets, which is
super annoying because that was a really nice jacket, but it's cool!
Now I can say I've been robbed. It's exciting.

So this week was really good. I am going to do condensed highlights
because I don't have that much time, but know that I love y'all, and
you're the best. Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Miller

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Cook Inlet YSA, Anchorage Alaska, Week 40

Howdy,

So clearly last week I failed at sending out the group email, but all
you need to know about that week is that it was great. Life is
awesome. For real. The sun is out till 11. I wake up to the sunrise at
4 30. Then go back to sleep. Everything is lush and green. The snow is
all gone, it's in the 60's and 70's all the time and life is
beautiful. People talk to us outside, we teach a lot, and I'm a happy
man. It's great. Hopefully life is going great for you as well.

Let me tell you about Jackson. So Jackson Jonas was craving Wendy's
two Thursdays or so ago, so he went to Wendy's. The drive through line
was super long, so he decided to go inside. Unbeknownst to him, a
temple trip had just gotten out, so there were about 30 Mormons inside
that Wendy's. He figured he would talk to them first because he knew
eventually they would talk to him. So he asked them some questions and
referred him to the other missionaries who referred him to us. We met
him for the first time last Tuesday. He's now on date for baptism on
June 18th. He already told us the church is true, he reads the Book of
Mormon, and he came to church. I've never met anybody like this, it's
nuts. It's like the most exciting thing ever. Being a missionary is
the best. You should try it some time.

Marc is also doing really good. His phone shut down because he's
broke, so we can barely communicate with him, which is less than
desirable, but we make do. He's still on track to be baptized on the
4th of June so that's also super exciting. I love it. Like so much.
You don't even know. It's for real.

Another high light of this week is that we had 4 member present
lessons and the ward is getting super excited about doing missionary
work. It's going well. I'm really sad that there's a high percent
chance I'm leaving this transfer. I learned so much from this ward and
from these people I will definitely miss it. But that's okay because I
still have 3 and a half ish weeks to slay it here.

That's some of the highlights of this week. Oh, we also met this super
cool lady named Neesha who took a Book of Mormon and set up a return
appointment with us and it was cool because that never happens. Good
times.

Alright, this week was pretty awesome. Next week will be too.
Hopefully yours is as well. Love y'all.

Elder Miller

Monday, May 9, 2016

Cook Inlet YSA, Anchorage, Alaska, Week 38

Howdy,

Clearly I'm getting steadily worse at emailing home. But that's okay.
It's been a long day.

It's beautiful out here! Everything is green, the trees and flowers
are blooming, the sun is shining, it's awesome. Alaska is the most
beautiful place on earth. For real. It's light out all the time, I
don't even need to turn on the headlights in the car. This is the best
place on earth. There is no where I would rather be than here serving
the Lord. I'm going to miss it so bad when I have to leave. Luckily
that's not for a long time. Being a missionary is the best.

Tuesday was a super long day. It was the last day of the transfer, so
everyone was partying and it was super hard to work. We were not
partying. We were trying to find things to do. But when there's no
district meeting and nobody wants to go tracting with you it puts you
in a rough spot. So that was fun. We said goodbye to the district and
it was sad. Good times.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. Except it was the first day of the
transfer and it was also rough. But that's okay! Because you have to
persevere through the rough days to really appreciate the good days.
And there's definitely more good days than bad. Which is really nice.
You just have to stay focused, work hard,and be diligent and it is
always good.

Thursday was the bomb. We taught lessons all day long. It was sweet.
We've been trying to work with members more, because that's like the
only way to get anything done here. So we set up a bunch of lessons
with members and we got to teach all day. I was so happy. We also
taught some less actives we don't normally get to, which was also
cool. Then we had a lesson with our new investigator Danny, who's a
boss, and we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he thought it was
awesome, and then we invited him to be baptized, and he totally said
yes. So that's awesome. We're getting things done. It only took me 5
months here to figure it out. That's what's up.

Friday was a wonky day. We taught Marc and had a good day, but it was
like super disjointed. Then at the end of the day Elder Call and I had
the most awesome companionship inventory I've ever had. It was sweet.
Good things happen on wonky days.

Saturday our schedule got all sorts of messed up. Our investigator
Laura who is moving to Wisconsin soon wanted to meet at 9 in the
morning during studies. And we did and it was an awesome lesson, she's
totally gonna get baptized done the road. But then we had to study
after, which was weird. Then we met with Marc again, had a really good
discussion, had another lesson, then went to dinner and got like 4
referrals. That's what's up. This weak has been crazy. That's what
happens week one of the transfer.

Sunday was great as well. We had no ward council because of mother's
day, so we met with our new ward mission leader and then had a lesson
with a less active who came to church. Then after church I ate way to
many chicken nuggets. It was brutal. Then after that we Skyped home,
which was weird and good. Home is weird. Then we had a sweet lesson
with Marc and a bunch of members. But sadly we're going to have to
move Marc's baptism date back. Today he messed up, which is okay, it's
all a part of the process, but now he's going to have to wait a little
bit. It's sad,but it's good for him. We want him to be good and ready
for this. It's all in the timing.

Alright you have a great week. Remember that you're awesome. Peace.

Elder Miller