1/6/14
Well hello, hello, hello!
First I need to apologize for sending out Christmas things to
everyone late. I'm a real jerk sometimes. Haha, sorry guys. But in reality you
should be glad because it just means that I am working so hard I don't have
time to go to the post office so, hey! Totally a good thing, right?! Life is
soooo busy. This week has been FULL of miracles. Just chuck full of them. In
fact, every single day is that way!
I wish I had the time to sit and tell you all of them. Actually,
I don't because that means I wouldn't be out working and that is my favorite
thing to do. Sorry everyone! I will have to make up for it in a year and a
half. :) I can't believe my first transfer out here is coming to a close. Time
really does FLY on the mission. Hermana Pocock and I had a bit of a panic
attack the other day freaking out about how little time we have left in the
mission! (She has 9 months left and I have like 15...that's not enough!) We
have so many high hopes and dreams for this area and these people, that we
truly know will come true, that every second we have we just want to work so
hard! And we want to be 100% obedient too! Something I am learning out here is obedience
with exactness. As a missionary we hear this quote all the time:
"Obedience brings blessing, but obedience with EXACTNESS
brings MIRACLES."
Ummmm, yes please! We can't do anything without the Spirit of
the Lord. Without that power, we are useless. And we can only have it when we
are being as obedient as possible-to the spirit of the law as well as the letter
of it! We are seeing countless miracles every day as we are striving to be the
most obedient and hard working missionaries we can be-and it always touches my
heart when we see another miracle because it tells me that my effort is
acceptable to the Lord and that He is proud of me. What more could I ask for? I
just want to work harder and harder every day. As I have been prayerfully
considering and setting goals for this new year, I have been trying to keep
this in mind- what we do today should prepare us and teach so we have a greater
capacity to do more tomorrow. If we do not have a purpose to work towards
every day, I can promise that we will fall short of our great and divine
potential. "If you want to get somewhere you have never been, you
must take a path that you have never before walked." That is a
thought that came to my mind the other day, and I know it is true. I once heard
that the definition of the word "insanity" is doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's so true. In
contrast to that, In Hebrew, the word that means "joy" also
means "eternal progression." How can we be happy if we are always
staying the same? I don't want to look back tomorrow and realize
I am the same person I was yesterday. I want to be better. I want to grow.
And ETERNAL progression is key, too. We continue to progress in the
Celestial Kingdom. I know that. I think
that "hell" essentially is a state of static being, a state
where you can no longer progress and change. How awful would that be? If Adam
and Eve had never been cast out of the Garden of Eden, they would never have
been able to learn or grow, and we would not exist. "Adam fell that men
might be, and men are that they might have JOY." (Or eternal progression,
since we just learned that they are interchangeable and dependent upon one another.)
We must too leave our "Garden of Eden." We cannot grow in our comfort
zone. It is impossible. One day we must go out into the "lone and dreary
wilderness" and grow and experience both the good and the bad, and learn.
And you know what? One day what once was a lone and dreary wilderness will
become a comfortable Garden of Eden, and we are going to have to leave again so
we can continue progressing, continue finding that joy. Change is good. Embrace
it! Let God lead you where He will. He knows better than we do anyways. If
there is anything I have learned out here, it is that. Trust Him, and He will
make you an instrument in His hands to do miracles. I can promise you that with
all my heart, as a representative of Jesus Christ.
How amazing is that?! That God, who is perfect and all-powerful,
let little old me, Alyssa Marie Miller from Mead, Colorado, find, teach, and
gather His oh-so-precious children. Alyssa who is scared of moths and
spiders, Alyssa who has zero self-control when it comes to Reeses Peanut-Cutter
cups (Thanks, Mom! Now I am gonna get more fat! Just when I was trying to
start "losing myself in the work,") Alyssa who didn't even really
become dedicated to the gospel until a little over a year and a half ago. If I
can change and become a worthy and powerful servant for the Lord, so can anyone
else in the world. If you doubt that, go read Mosiah 27. Like, right now. I
love the story of Alma the Younger. If you want to know how I feel, read verses
28 and 29. So beautiful. God has never given up on you, and He never will. We
all can change. We all can have eternal progression. We all can feel JOY. Live
every day so that you will gain that. Serve the Lord and He will provide. Go
read Mosiah 5:12-13 too. Serve Him, and He will serve you. I can't say that
enough.
I love you all. Work hard every day. We owe it to Him. He will
make it worth it.
Hermana Miller
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