Hermana Miller: Week 44: A Mighty Change of Heart!

August 25, 2014

Hello world! 

Hermanas Carlson & Miller, Omaha Spanish Ward, Omaha, NE

Another wonderful week in the mission!   And I just got done playing a missionary volleyball "tournament" so I am happy as a clam. (Are clams even happy?  Where did that saying come from, anyways?) We had enough people for five teams and there were a lot of really great players! I have missed it a lot. I still love competition, so between Monday morning volleyball and Saturday night Futbol (Soccer) I am loving life here in Omaha. (And I am starting to get a very loose hang on soccer! It's fun! Especially when you play with all the members. Hermana Carlson and I are the only women who play though....but they don't give us any special treatment! Haha!) 

This week I spent a lot of time reflecting.  This is a little unorthodox, but I want to apologize to everyone. I need to apologize for the person I was before the mission. Especially, during high school. I was not a good example of anything, except what NOT to do. This is my sincere and heartfelt, penitent apology to absolutely anyone who I ever offended, hurt, or blew off. This is an apology to anyone I ever let down, or led astray. This is an apology to everyone to whom I owed a good example, and fell short. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. The mission has definitely humbled me and helped me to recognize just how much more I could have done and been. I'm so sincerely sorry, from the bottom of my heart. I didn't live the way I should have. I was self-conscious and easily swayed from doing what I knew was right. I recognize now that a lot more people watch you than you think, and I feel sincere sorrow for all the people that saw me do things that didn't reflect the will and love of our  Heavenly Father. I promise I really have changed. I don't even recognize, nor want to associate anymore with the person that I was, and I will never go back to being that girl.  Please, please feel the heart I am putting into this.   I messed up.   A ton.   But I don't want to anymore. I'm not perfect. No one is. But, I am grateful to the Savior for giving us the chance to change. I hope everyone I ever hurt can forgive me, too. I am grateful to each of you who will permit me to change and be a better friend, family member, and example to you. 

Anyways, now that I have that burden off my chest, this week went well.  We found some new families and definitely saw some miracles. We had Zone Conference this week. Hermana Carlson and I were asked to perform a musical number, so we wrote a song to the tune of "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas! We were really scared and kinda sickly, but it went off rather smashingly.   People seemed to really, really like it!   Even President Weston pulled us aside and told us how strongly the Spirit flooded in. 

Zone Conference was incredible.  We talked all about the Book of Mormon!   We are going to flood this mission with it!   Go to scriptures.lds.org right now and watch the "Scriptures Legacy" video!   I want to extend the same challenge all the missionaries in NOM are doing to each of you - start the Book of Mormon over, and highlight all names of Deity, all the Atonement, and every time you see the word "heart." We are going to finish on December 8th. That's about five pages a day. I can promise that as you do that, you will feel the power of the atonement work in your life and you WILL have a change of heart. I promise that with all MY heart. 

I love you all!  Be good! 

Love, Hermana Miller 

Hermana Miller: Week 43: 10 Months? What in the world?!!

August 18, 2014

This week was a blur. It's just been crazy. I don't even know what to write about!

  

Hermanas Carlson & Miller

Something really neat I have been really amazed by this week is personal revelation and stewardship. As Hermana Carlson planned our vision for this area, we both felt we should work a lot with the part-member families in our ward. I scheduled us some meetings with the Bishop and the Ward Mission Leader, and they both had received the same promptings. I know as we do that, we will see miracles. It is so important to work with the Priesthood.

If there is one thing that I have learned to LOVE on my mission it is the Priesthood. I love and respect all Priesthood holders dearly. I LOVE Priesthood blessings. I wish I could have one every day. And something else I have learned to love is the way that Priesthood power and the divine role of women work together. No one is excluded from the blessings of the  Priesthood.  They are for EVERYONE. Just like a woman cannot bring life into this world (which is the most incredible privilege and honor God could bestow on us,) without her husband, neither can a man exercise the fullness of the Priesthood power without his wife. If anyone says that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is prejudiced and unfair, they do not understand the gospel. Men and women are a team in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father loves us so dearly and I am constantly and consistently amazed at the eternal and Celestial (and different) responsibilities we have each been given. We need each other. Men and women are not meant to compete for glory or rally for position, but to encourage and lift one another to a higher, more celestial plane of living. Cooperation, not competition, is the key to happiness. Humility, not hostility. Oh, how we all need each other. I wish everyone could see and understand that. I know that as we work together in callings, and in relationships, righteous men and women could change the world.

What it all boils down to is pride. Pride is the root of all vices, just as charity is the source from which all virtues spring. Let's just all be humble and work together and make the world a beautiful place, okay? :)

I love you all! I am doing great. Hope you each are as well.

This week I challenge you to make prayer journals! As you pray and ask questions to the Lord, write them down and then record the promptings you feel and the answers you get through the scriptures. It's so wonderful.

Love you!

Hermana Miller  

Hermana Miller: Week 42: Beach Bum to City Girl

8/11/2014

Well, I finally got voted off the island. I've been transferred to Omaha! It's going to be a massive change. I'm the Senior Companion and my sweet little comp is pretty fresh in the field-this is only her third month in Nebraska. Her name is Sister Carlson, and we are like the same person! It's wild. We literally have all the same interests! Food, culture, music, outdoors, fitness, animals, art, shopping, etc, etc, etc. She's so beautiful and stylish and talented! She was a food blogger at home! Umm, can you say cool? I am working very hard to gain her trust and help her feel comfortable with me. She must be under a lot of stress! It's such a big change to get a new companion, just getting out of training! We are living in a church-owned home next to the Institute building-we are in the basement and there are two Trail Center sisters living up top (Sister Hodges and Sister Trusty.) It's the strangest feeling to be the oldest sister missionary in the entire home. I out-age all the other sisters by AT LEAST 6 months. I recognize that this is a big responsibility. It's a lot of stress and I am pretty overwhelmed, but I know that through the grace of the Atonement, that enabling power, I will be sustained and strengthened. Heavenly Father knows what He is doing....always. 

The work out here is so different. I was "raised" working in a small branch where I had super personal relationships with every member. I knew everyone. This is a ward! And when we sat down to weekly planning on Friday and we were going through the ward list, the sisters had only met about a third of the members! So that is one of our goals- we are going to go visit and serve EVERY member this transfer. It's going to take a lot of coordination-the area is enormous. (Thank goodness we have a car.) But I know it will be worth it. As we unify the members, we will have greater retention rates and the Lord will bless us. It's been interesting- as I have been here and learning of the challenges and strengths of this area, I am realizing that the Lord used Grand Island as a microcosm to teach and train me on how to resolve each of these needs before I got here. Literally each concern that has been expressed, I experienced and was able to see resolved in Grand Island. Just more proof that the Lord is good, and so wise. I am the ONLY Spanish Hermana who hasn't been to Omaha yet, so it's a little intimidating, but I feel capable and confident that we will see miracles this transfer with the Lord on our side. 

Leaving Grand Island was so hard. It nearly ripped my heart out. I have come to love those people SO dearly. And I know they love me too. There were so many tears and so many people just POURED out their love to me. It was so touching.  And so hard. But I can't deny the witness of the Spirit I felt as we received the transfer call-I KNOW this is where I am supposed to be. And I'm not the best missionary ever, nor am I even a very good one, but I just hope and pray that in some way the Lord can use my gifts and talents to bless the sweet people here in Omaha like He did in Grand Island. I already love them all dearly. The ward received me pretty well in general-I think some of them were a little uncomfortable to get a new missionary after such a short time with the other companionship, but I'll win them over. Love all around! Extra helpings! Their mug-o-love shall run over with Hermana-Miller-affection! I'll charm the sombreros off of 'em, haha. (Saddest thing ever-there are ZERO Cubans out here... whaaaaaa!!!!! They have to be hiding somewhere-I'll find them!) The good news is that everyone we have actually had personal time with has really seemed to like me a lot-we have laughed and felt the Spirit very strongly. Hopefully they will share those good feelings with their friends. 

We already found a really neat family to teach-it's a family of 6! The Huizars! They are pretty stubborn, but the Spirit has been really strong, so pray for them. We have seen so many miracles so far. As we have been making an effort to reach out to key members of the ward-Ward Mission Leader, Bishop, Relief Society President, etc, we have gotten some really good reactions. I'm excited to see that pattern continue. I predict some opposition, but the Lord always wins in the end. 

I'm so grateful for my new home-Omaha. I will finally get to go to the temple soon for the first time since Mexico. I can't wait. I have missed that beautiful place so much. I know the Lord lives and loves me. He strengthens us always. Remember that in your moments of adversities-the Lord is our very present help in trials. He WILL help us and strengthen us so that we can bear up our burdens with ease. 

I love you all, have an amazing week. I know I will. 

Con Carino, 

Hermana Miller 

PS - Omaha is loco. There is a part we sisters are not allowed to go into because of daily murders and drug/gang violence. There are even multiple billboards saying things like "Do you know who killed our dad?" with pictures of the victims, looking for information. Toto, we're not in Grand Island anymore. Have fun in your area, Elders....

Hermana Miller: Week 41: Miracles and Pure Love.

August 4, 2014

Can I please just start by saying how much I LOVE my Heavenly Father??? There are not words in English, or Spanish, or Italian, or any other language to describe how grateful I am to Him. I love Him. And I know He loves me, because He sure showed it this week. Tender mercies and miracles everywhere.

Yesterday was the best Sunday of my entire mission. Scratch that...my entire LIFE. I would need a novel to write all the miracles that happened. First of all... WE HAD 11 RETURNING LESS-ACTIVE MEMBERS AND 12 INVESTIGATORS AT SACRAMENT. (That's not counting all the ones that the elders worked with!) That is absolutely unheard of! I never could have DREAMED Heavenly Father would have blessed us like that! Our sacrament meeting was only 4 less than the record high of the entire 13 years this branch has existed! It was incredible! And there were NO pauses where we had to wait for people to get up and bear their testimonies! The Spirit was tangible it was so strong!

My favorite part of everything was Relief Society. As I sat in a FULL Relief Society room (only one chair was not occupied...I say we left it for the Spirit...) and listened to the sisters share their experiences about how they have already started to contact their brand new visiting teaching assignments, my heart was overflowing. Just absolutely spilling over. I know that no matter what happens at transfers, I can be at peace, and know this branch is in good hands. The sisters are doing it on their own now, and doing it well. I have a strong testimony that this branch will never be the same, now that the Relief Society is functioning. I love them all so dearly. Each and every one. They still have their challenges, but the Lord has worked miracles with them. This branch deserves all the blessings in the world. They are my dearest brothers and sisters. I KNOW that Heavenly Father loves them DEEPLY and is so proud of them and so willing to bless them. He will not let them fall apart again. I know He is there with them every step of the way. Words can't explain how I feel about them. I have come to realize that I had no idea what love was before the mission. I didn't. Zero idea. The mission has truly taught me how to deeply, powerfully, and truly LOVE people. And I will be forever grateful for that.

 I have this dream that in 5 years or so I will return with my own new little family to visit my dear friends, (family really,) here in Grand Island, and it will be a flourishing ward. A powerful force for good. An example of charity, unity, and order here in the Nebraska Omaha Mission. It will be Zion. I know this will happen. Faster than we anticipate, because now the sisters see their potential. Yesterday in sacrament, the Relief Society president leaned back to me and said "Would you just LOOK at how many sisters there are here today?! It's almost all women!" And literally, out of the 65 people at sacrament meeting, at least 75% were sisters. I began to cry again. This branch is so special.

Again, I wish I could write all the miracles that happened JUST yesterday, but I can't. No room nor time. But I will share one other amazing one from this week:

Last Sunday I got a terrible fever and migraine. I thought it would go away but it didn't. All week I have been suffering with pain and fevers and migraines, so bad that I could barely eat from being so sick to my stomach from the pain (still went out and worked though!!!), and so Saturday we decided to get me to a doctor. We tried all day, and it didn't work out. Appointments kept running late, etc. Finally, at 8:00 at night we just both felt really strongly that we NEEDED to get me to the doctor. We went to the only place open-the ER. We walked not even 5 steps in the door and two ladies stopped us and said "Are you Mormons?!" We replied yes, and they said "That's crazy! We are not members of your Church, but our mother, who is visiting from out of town is, and she is being admitted to the hospital right now. She literally JUST asked us to get her a priesthood blessing less than 3 minutes before you walked in! Can you help us?!" We were able to call the elders and get that arranged. God works in mysterious ways. I love Him. His plans are perfect. (And I am on the upswing - turns out I had a kidney infection. They loaded me up with medicine and I am feeling a little better today! Totally worth it to help someone!) 

I love you all. Transfers are this week. Keep me in your prayers. Remember the Lord in all things, and repent DAILY. It has made ALL the difference for me.

Amor,

Hermana Miller

P.S.:   OH! And another miracle! We set Jessica A. for baptism this week! She is set for September 6th!!! :)

Hermana Miller: Week 40: Now I've REALLY done it all.

Hermana Miller & her fellow Grand Island missionaries (Spanish & English)

Hermanas Buhler & Miller, & Sisters Crist & Allen  at the Pioneer Day Celebration 7/26/2014
DON'T MISS THE VIDEO LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST!!!

7/28/2014

I must have the most unorthodox mission in the whole world. I feel like every week something new comes up that I NEVER would have expected, especially during a mission! (Like translating an OBGYN appointment. Yes, I did that this week. Anything to help our brothers and sisters, right?) But the strangest/best thing that may have happened in my entire mission happened yesterday.

I got to speak "SpItalian" with Romanians. In the middle of my Spanish speaking mission in the middle of Nebraska. Yes, you heard that right. Heavenly Father must have a great sense of humor, I swear.  He is amazing. Saturday night we ran to Walmart to pick up some snacks and coloring things for the daughters of some investigators who were supposed to come to church.  As we were walking out, Hermana Buhler saw this woman and her 10 year old daughter standing near the door with a sign, asking for money.  We went up to them and gave them our bottles of water and a big box of fruit snacks and started talking to them. I realized as we were speaking Spanish to them that they were responding in a mix of Spanish and Italian.  (I am so grateful I studied Italian at BYU! It allowed me to get their phone number and everything, which they didn't know how to say in Spanish.)  I asked them where they were from, turns out they are basically gypsies from Romania! They came over to Arizona 6 months ago, were traveling to Illinois to find work (there was none,) so they decided to go back and got stranded! The mother's name was Letizia and the daughter was Silvia. We talked to them for a bit and invited them to Church.

Fast  forward to Sacrament Meeting.   I hear the door open up in the chapel and I turn around and see Silvia's beautiful face poking in. I grab Hermana Buhler and we dash out to go see them. They brought the husband/father, Marion! (But he asked us to call him Mario, because we are "amici.")  They came into sacrament and even sang all the hymns!  The main talk was all about the Book of Mormon, and Mario was really interested so we gave him one and a copy of the Restoration pamphlet!  The final hymn was "Oh Esta Todo Bien," (which is "All is Well" in English,) and I looked over and Mario and Letizia and they were both teary.  Mario kissed Silvia's forehead and told her "See?  Everything will be okay." I know they felt the Spirit. It made me tear up, too.

After the service, we met with a Bishop from the English ward (because our Branch President is on vacation,) and started talking about how to help them and their situation. They are such amazing people and it was a very tender experience to see how much the Lord cares about His children and wants to help them. There were so many tender mercies. Those investigators did not come, so we gave scared little Silvia two notebooks to color in, crayons, and some fruit snacks.  Hermana Buhler drew a picture of her and she was so happy that she wrote our names down and put hearts all over them!  I was able to help her feel more comfortable by speaking the little Italian I remember to her.  She was tickled pink and loved it.  We were able to get them a hotel room for the night (we walked in to check it out with them and they almost cried just to have somewhere to shower!  They have been sleeping in their car!)   Then we got them a bunch of food and a giant gift card that had enough on it to get them gas and food all the way home.  When we handed Mario the gift card and told him how much was on it, he almost picked Hermana Buhler and I up in a big  hug and just said "Grazie grazie grazie!!!!) And he kissed the Bishop's hands! Letizia hugged us and kept saying "God bless you!" and Silvia nearly tackled me with a giant hug.   I told them "Vi voglio bene!" And they responded so sincerely and with so much love.   It was amazing.    They are going to keep in contact with us, invited us out to see them after the mission,  and they accepted to have the missionaries in Arizona teach them and they want to go to the Spanish ward out there.   Amazing.   

As they were pulling out of the parking lot, I remembered that mom had sent me a bunch of restaurant gift cards so I stopped them and gave them to them.  Letizia told me that Silvia said that she loves me, just like we were sisters.  I cried.  Heavenly Father loves them so much. They are so special and deserve the world. God sure goes through a lot to help His children.  He has been planning this perfectly longer than I can even think about.   

I know He is aware of each one of us and our trials, and has solutions just as perfectly orchestrated to rescue us in our times of need. He loves us perfectly. Don't forget that.

Love,

Hermana Miller

Video of Hermana Miller & her fellow missionaries singing!

Hermana Miller: Week 39: Whiplash!!!

7/21/2014

Well, this week nearly gave us whiplash. We very nearly literally got assaulted with both heartbreaks and miracles. Which do you want first?? Just kidding, you don't have a choice.

I can't believe we hit the 9 month mark this week. That's absolutely incredible and insane. I truly have loved my mission so far, and the Lord was really neat and iced the cake for us by sending us a baby! That's right, a baby. Jhessika Carrillo, the mom of the dear little girl Keyla we had a baptism for in January, had her baby finally! I have been here for an entire pregnancy! WHOA. That goes a lot faster when you are not the one pregnant, I think. It's a BEAUTIFUL baby girl named Esmeralda. She's literally perfect. Jhessika asked us to come see her in the hospital, and as we entered that room the Spirit was so strong. I was a crybaby the entire time we were there. (My mommy senses are kicking in extra hard on the mission I think. Maybe it comes from having to wrangle anywhere from 3-6 children every sacrament!) The hardest moment of obedience in my entire mission (it's usually very easy to choose to be obedient,) was when Jhessika and Ramiro asked me if I would hold that stunning little bundle. Oh my goodness, talk about being torn in two. But I knew I couldn't, so I didn't. That was tough! But worth it to have the Spirit and do the best I can so one day when I have my OWN children, I will be able to be the best mother possible to them.

Something tough this week was that, at the beginning of the week, Jessica and Benita were still skyrocket progressing! (They were even studying Preach my Gospel and the Book of Mormon daily!) And then yesterday neither one showed up to church, so we called Benita, and she cancelled her baptism for right now. That tells you what taking a break from the Book of Mormon for "just a few days" will do for you. I KNOW that the power of the Spirit as we study that book protects us, and that if we will read it just a little every day, we will never go astray. But when we do, even though it does not seem like a big deal, it gives the Adversary room to strike. In C.S Lewis' novel, The Screwtape Letters, the experienced devil Screwtape shares this counsel with a younger one:

“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. … It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is toedge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts”

Those little things really make all the difference in the whole world. I can't emphasize that enough. I have seen so many tragic situations this week among people and it all started because they started missing a day or two of scripture study or prayer. If I ever do that when I get home (which I promise I won't,) somebody PLEASE slap me upside the head with a scripture case. It's the little things that count.

Well, I have to go. Time is short. I love you all dearly, remind someone of the basics this week.

Love, Hermana Miller

Remember:

“Your criticism may be worse than the conduct you are trying to correct.”

Hermana Miller: Week 38: Que onda, carnal? Ya tu sabes, chico!

July 14, 2014

Quuuuueeeee pasa, mundo?!?!

Another GREAT week in the Nebraska Omaha Mission. I adore being a missionary. I adore Grand Island. I adore life. Aughhh this week was too good to be true! I will have to do a quickie run-down of the big events to try to fill you all in!

1.) Interviews with President Weston! Oh my goodness that man is amazing and inspired. He literally answered every single one of my prayers and the questions of my heart. It was like he was reading my soul. I am so blessed to have such a good set of mission parents. They have put their whole heart and soul into this mission. And they have really turned it around. Only a few years ago, a General Authority said that about 85% of the missionaries here had serious problems to work through, and now because of the inspired and strict/loving leadership of the Lord calling the Westons, a few months ago it was called one of the most obedient missions. That is proof that the Atonement is real. And this week was a mission record-setting week for baptismal sets and investigators coming to church! Exact obedience brings blessings! You can't really love the work without it!  Anyways, that care and passion that they put into the mission as a whole transcends and reflects in the way they treat every missionary. I really love them and appreciate them. I know they are consecrated servants of the Lord.

2.) We had a baby! Well, not yet. But we threw a baby shower for Hermana Fabela-Carrillo and it was GREAT! We had like 40 people there and a bunch of awesome investigators and even a less-active member family who haven't been to church in like 5 years! And now they want us to get their 12 year old son ready to go through the temple and do baptisms for his uncle who passed away! Miracle! (PS-I have now thrown just about every major life event on my mission - a wedding, baby shower, missionary farewell, Christmas parties, etc etc etc. The only one I am missing is a funeral, but we did get kicked out of our district meeting 2 weeks ago because they brought a dead body into our  room for a viewing - so I guess that counts...)

3.) BENITA AND JESSICA CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY AND LOVED IT! They even asked for copies of Preach My Gospel!  I was so excited that I took mine out of my bag and just gave it to them! (Which is a miracle in itself that I had it because normally I don't bring it with me, but I felt prompted to yesterday morning.) They are amazing! Please pray they will be protected and be able to get baptized on August 2nd according to plan!  I love them so dearly!

4.) The Cubans here love me! Haha! And I love them! We got the opportunity to talk to a bunch yesterday and I don't know what it is, but I always just hit it off so well with Cubans! We got along great. At the beginning of the conversation they were telling us they were strong believers in "Brujeria" which is like black magic, but by the end, they all accepted Books of Mormon and were really solid about reading them! And they were convinced I was Italian. (Apparently I have an Italian accent?) I dunno but I just adored them. Who am I kidding, I adore all Cubans! They are the best! Maybe I'll move down to Miami and go to a Spanish ward down there one day, hahaha!

5.) I got to teach Relief Society yesterday (Charity and Visiting Teaching) and give a 20 minute talk on the Plan of Salvation in sacrament! I was so proud of the sisters in RS, they planned 3 visits to sick/sad sisters all by themselves this week! That's massive progress and a miracle!

Anyways, time is short. Sorry this letter was pretty "worldly." I ran out of time. But I wanted to share one of my favorite scriptures with you all, it is Proverbs 3:27:

"Withhold‍ not good‍ from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

If we all did this, the world would become infinitely more Christ-like, one kind act at a time. Will you each do a random act of kindness every day this week? I can promise you will feel more joy and feel more sensitive to the Spirit. You will answer prayers and yours will be answered!

I love you all!

Besitos,

Hermana Miller :)