July 20th - 26th 2015

Friends and Family!

How is everyone? This week went super well. A lot of good things happened. First of all, we had interviews with president Franco on Tuesday. President Frandco is the best mission presidente that I could ask for, he is such a good example for me. He is super dedicated to the work of the Lord. He is firm and strict with his rules, but he leads with love. He is understanding and affecionate. He isnt a mission presidente that gets mad when we do somehthing wrong, but he corrects us with love and helps us understand why we do things the way we do. He is super cool. He lived like 10 minutes away from our house, he lives right next door to the Oquirrh Temple! He was the presidente of the Draper Temple. I respect him a lot. And then on saturday, we had the baptism of Lionel Acosta! He is the boy that I told you about that lives in the area of Elder Pacheco and Elder Stout that is 9 years old. He lives with his grandma who is a member that Elder Pacheco recently reactivated. Then he started to teach her grandkids, and thats how we found Lio! So true reactivation of less active members always brings baptisms. I helped teach him a little bit since I have been with the zone leaders this past transfer. His baptism was perfect, everything went well, Elder Pacheco baptized him. A lot of members came. It was Elder Stout`s first baptism, so that was happy. Then on sunday we had his confirmation. Also on sunday in the evening, the branch put on a farewell party for Elder Pacheco! A ton of members came, and we had a little devotional where the missionaries sang a pretty hymn, Elder Pacheco gave his farewell testimony talk and all the members that wanted to say good things about him could go up to the pulpit and bare their testimony. It was sad to realize that he was really leaving but it was a fun activity. Then later that night, we recieved the news about transfers! SO, here it is. The Lord wants me to have another opportunity to train again. Tomorrow I will be going to Resistencia to pick up the new missionary and we will be staying here in my area in Armenia 1! I am super grateful for the opportunity that I will have to try training out again, I hope that this time things go a little better and that my new missionary can find himself comfortable in the mission. I am going to do everything I can to give this new missionary the best training experience that he could recieve. More than anything I just hope that I can be his best friend and help him through the difficult changes of being new in the mission. I am stoked to still be here in armenia, I love Armenia. Also, Elder Stout got transferred! As well as the sisters that were here in Armenia, they got taken out. So, keeping in mind that Elder Pacheco finished his mission and went home, I am the only lone survivor of the missionaries in Armenia! The new zone leaders that live in the apartment above us are Elder Dana and Elder Allred. Elder Dana has 11 months in the mission, and Elder Allred is from my MTC group, he has the same amount of time as me. I think they are both from Arizona, but I will have to double check on that. They arrived last night, I havent really gotten the chance to meet them very much yet because for the past two days I have been with Elder Regalado (from Colombia) who is also training as well, we are together because we both dont have companions, We are in his area right now (La Costanera) which is next to my area. He is an awesome missionary, super funny, super columbiano. Tomorrow we will be going together to Resistencia to get our new missionaries. ALSO, since the sisters were taken out of Armenia, their area has been split up into two pieces, and the zone leaders and I will each be taking a piece of their area. So we were 6 missionaries in armenia, with 3 areas, but now we are 4 missionaries with 2 areas. So I have a lot more area now, new space to roam and new people to meet! That should be good, because I was getting a little tired of my area. haha. It was pretty small. Now my area is gigantic. I am super happy about all the changes, it should be fun to get to know Elder Dana and Elder Allred. I already know that both of them are awesome missionaries. They both speak really good spanish. I am super excited to start training! I would truly appreciate it if all you guys could pray for my new missionary that I am training so that he can feel comfortable here and that I can help show him how great the mission is. So we will see how this first week goes! I know that the Lord will be right there with me helping me every step of the way. I am nervous but excited, I know that if I trust in the Lord he will help me know what I should do. Thank you all for your support, I hope that you have a great week! Thank you for your emails!

Elder Miles

P.S., attached are a few photos! The first picture is a cake that I made that turned out delicious. WHAT?! I learned how to make cake? Thats cool. It was for the birthday of Elder Mejia (Mexico), he was serving in La Costanera (the area next to me, the ex companion of Elder Regalado, but he just got transfered). Then the next picture is all of the elders from the zone of Corrientes 2. We all got together to say good bye to Elder Pacheco. Then the last photo is Lio´s baptism with Elder Pacheco, Elder Stout and I. 

July 20th, 2015

Hola!

This week went really well! Just the same old. This week Abel couldnt go out on divisions with me as much, so I only got to work in my area for 2 days this week. But we are finding a lot people to teach! I dont think there has ever been a time in this area where we have had so much success in finding people to teach. The few days that we do get out in my area, we are super busy. Unfortunately, we didnt have anybody come to church this sunday. Thats probably the biggest obstacle in my area and in the entire mission, is having attendance in the church. And if you dont have church attendance you dont have baptisms. But we are also seeing that almost all of our investigators have social fear, like they are afraid what their friends and family are gonig to think if they go to the LDS church because a lot of people here are very judgemental about religion. We are still working with Dani and Erika, but they arent progressing as much anymore! Its sad not to see investigators progress. But in the area of Elder Stout and Pacheco (the zone leaders that I am in a trio with), we are having more success! This saturday we will have the baptism of Lionel, he is 9 years old and he goes to church with his grandma. He is super smart and he is excited to get baptized. So that should be a lot of fun! We also should have more baptisms in the near future of a few other teenagers that we are working with. Their names are Emiliano and Santiago, they are from Formosa but they recently moved in with their aunt Zara, who is a member of the church. So we have definitely been seeing the blessings of working with members in order to have baptisms!

Transfers will be next week, so P day will be on tuesday instead of monday. That also means that my best friend Elder Pacheco is going home! His time in the mission has come to an end, he goes back to Chile this coming tuesday. Im going to miss him, he has been a huge help for me on the mission! I guess we will see whats going to happen to me, maybe I will go to a new area. I would be happy to stay here in armenia, I love armenia!

I hit the year mark this past thursday! I cant believe how fast the mission has gone. This first year has been such a learning experience for me. I have had so many trials but I have learned so many things that are going to benefit me for the rest of my life. It really has been quite the test of my faith but I feel like I have managed to come out on top. I am glad to say that know that what I am doing is where I need to be and that I know the church is true, that Christ lives and loves me. Above all my testimony has been strengthed on the atonement. I have never understood the atonement and the gospel like how I do now, its hard to explain the things that I have learned. I have experienced some of the best of times on mission too, I have never had such good of friends like Elder Morrin and Elder Pacheco. This coming year, I am hoping that I can just be completely dedicated and consecrated to the work. I want to work hard this year and not regret anything. Its going to be a great year, I am excited to start applying rather than learning. 

This week for a family home evening that we had with a family, we watched the mormon message "earthly father, heavenly father". I love this video, I recommend all of you to watch it. I love that quote at the end that says "Of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to deity, he has asked us to address us as father". I testify that its true, I know that my heavenly father is watching after my every step, he us guiding me towards people that are willing to hear the message of the restoration. I know that he is conscious of every trial and test he gives, and I know that its for our own progress.

Well thats all I have for this week! I hope that you all have a great week, thank you for your support!

Elder Miles

July 13th

Hola todos!

This was a good week! One of the best weeks I have had so far I would say. Abel is still doing divisions with me 4-5 days a week so it doesnt affect me too much right now that I dont have a companion! I think he has been my favorite "companion" that I have had so far.. haha. We are working super hard and we are talking to everyone that we can! This week we found some new investigators but our most promising two investigators are still Dani (The reference from a member, he is going to be baptized the 25th of July, we hope) and Erika, the woman that we found contacting. They are both excited and are progressing really well, reading the B.O.M and praying and everything. But unfortuntely neither of them came to church this week. What I like about Abel is that he has no fear to talk to people, its like he has already been a missionary for a year. This week he placed his first baptismal date on an investigator without me even having to tell him to do it. He just did it. It was awesome, it was a super spiritually moment in the lesson. I bought him ice cream afterwards. haha. Even though my opportunity to train didnt really work out.. I really feel like it was all part of the God`s plan for me this transfer because I have the opportunity now to "train" Abel and help him be prepared for the mission. I love teaching him things that are going to help him in his mission. When I am not with Abel I am with Elder Pacheco and Elder Stout, and that is super fun. In their area we have like 5 investigators that are preparing to be baptized so that is awesome. I love working with them, it is so much fun. Elder Pacheco will be my life long friend. Transfers are in two weeks, so I guess we will see what the Lord wants for me! I would be super happy to stay more time here in Armenia, I love Armenia. It has built me to be the missionary that I am. Today for P-day we did an "asado" (which basically means a barbeque grill where we cook a ton of meat) with almost all the elders of the zone here and with Abel and Javier (our branch mission leader). It was super fun, we throw the football around a little too. Unfortunetly I didnt take any pictures, sorry!

That was my week, it was super good! All is well. I am loving the mission. Speaking of which, I will be hitting the year markthis thursday! Woah!! How fast time passes. I hope that you are all doing good, thank you for your emails!

Elder T. Miles

July 6th

Hello everyone!

This was a pretty good week. So Elder Toledo left last  monday night, so I have been in a trio for this week with Elder Pacheco and Elder Stout and I will be with them until the end of July. Its pretty fun, Elder Pacheco is one of my best friends so it is a blast to be with him. There is a youth here that is preparing to leave on a mission in january, his name is Abel, and he has been helping me a TON this week! Every Wednesday, friday, and sunday we are going to do divisions together so that I can work in my area more. (divisions is when a member from the church is my companion for the day so that Elder Pacheco and Stout can go work in their area and I can work in mine). Abel is an awesome guy, he is super prepared to go on a mission. He has turned his whole life around to be able to go on a mission and its been amazing to see him change. He for sure has been one of my best companions yet and hes not even a real missionary yet. haha. But we are working really hard together! This week Dani came to church again (yay!) and we have been working a lot with him, he has been progressing great and he has committed to being baptized the 25th of July. I am super happy for him, I know that it is going to change his life. Also with Abel this week we found a new investigator named Erika, she is a single mom that has always wanted to see what the LDS church is like but is a little intimidated. Unfortunately she didnt come to church this week but she committed to going to church next week for sure! I am pretty bummed that I missed my favorite holiday of all, the 4th of July, but Elder Stout and I celebrated by singing all 3 verses of the star spangled banner in the morning to wake Elder Pacheco up. 

Attached are a few pictures. The first picture is Elder Toledo and I the day before he left, it was his birthday and I  bought him half a kilogram of ice cream. The sign says "Happy birthday Elder Toledo, little son of mine". The next picture is Elder Pacheco and I holding his Chile flag because Chile won the soccer tournament "copa america" on saturday, its the biggest soccer tournament in south america. The last picture is Abel and I!

June 22th-28th

Hola hola!

Well, this week was a curve ball. It was  an interesting, pretty sad, long week. Elder Toledo (the missionary that im training) misses his house a lot and the mission is really hard for him, and he is going to be going home this week. I really had no idea, everything was going  really well up until last monday when he told me that he wanted to go home. So that is pretty sad. It is definitely understandabe through knowing that this is a completely different life style for him and that in their tribe they have very very strong family bonds. But the mission would really change his life if he could just manage to stick it out. But, thats the way it goes I guess. I think he will be going home tomorrow. I am  pretty sure that I am going to be with my zone leaders for the rest of this transfer in a trio (Elder Pacheco and Elder Stout), which will be fun. We are going to have a lot of help from the youth here, we have two boys that are preparing to leave for missions that are going to help me a lot, so I am going to be doing a lot of divisions with them (thats where they are my companion for a few hours and we can go work in my area). The good part of this week was that we recieved a reference from a member, and he is our new golden investigator. His name is Dani, he has a lot of friends in the church, he is 17 years old and he came to church this week. He has a baptismal date for the 18th of July and I really think that it will go through. So that is exciting, we are going to be working a lot with him this week. All the other investigators that we had fell through. But thats about all for this week, I would just like to bare my testimony that I know that Jesus is the Christ, and that the gospel brings real power into our lives. It makes possible the salvation and it makes us more happy if it live it in our lives. I know that the fulness of this gospel was restored through Joseph Smith.  Thank you for all your emails and support, I hope you have a great week!

Elder Miles

Pictures

Elder Williams and I (my old companion), Omar and

I at his baptism, and Elder Toledo and I

Week of June 15th-21th

Nalhujooy familia!

Taajunashelh?! haha. Thats, "Hi family, how are you?" in nibacle, the native language of my new companion! I was wrong last week, its written nibacle, and its pronounced (KNEE BAH CLAY). As you can see, I am learning his language. So this week was truly awesome, I LOVE training. I was with the zone leaders until wednesday, and then I went to resistencia and picked up my new missionary! As you know, the missionary that I am training is a native indian from Paraguay, from the tribe nibacle. His name is Elder Toledo. He is 22 years old. He comes from a family of 7. He and 4 other new missionaries are some of the first people to serve missions from their tribe. They are super super special humble people. They are incredible. Really humble, excited to learn. The speak very little spanish, but my companion actually speaks pretty alright! The tribe nibacle is a tribe in northern Paraguay. Like 20 years ago 2 missionaries baptized the tribe leader, and all the members of the tribe always follow what the leader does, so they all got baptized too. Its like a book of mormon story, right?!.. Anyway, my companion loves to play soccer, he worked a lot of construction with his dad before the mission. He is quiet, humble, always super happy. They dont have books of mormon in his language, so hes never read the Book of Mormon before. I actually really love teaching him because we are starting from the very basics, and I have to explain everything in really basic terms, which really helps me understand things a lot better and it helps me learn how to teach in a more simple way. He speaks pretty good spanish, he can communicate himself pretty good. A lot better than the missionaries from the U.S. when they are new. Its interesting that he thinks in nibacle..I think in english.. And we both meet half way in spanish. All day long I am like, "hey, how do you say this in nibacle?!" And he says, "hey, how do you say this in english?!" haha. We are loving it. All week we have just been focusing on basics.. How to explain things really simple in order that he can talk in the lessons too. He is really good at bearing his testimony, he always is so happy to tell the people that he knows the lesson is true. It amazes me their desire to serve the Lord, even when they have never read all the way through the Book of Mormon for themselves or dont understand everything completely. They are AWESOME. He is learning really fast. 

This week we contacted all week and we found 2 new investigators. Gerarldo, who almost was baptized a year ago but had a few obstacles and the missionaries stopped visiting him, and now we have found him again and he is excited to come to church. He wants to change his life and he really likes to learn. He is about 30 years old, he is going to have a baby in a few months. We also found Juan, a grandpa that likes to listen to us and wants to come to church. And we are working with Juliana, the investigator that we found last week. She is really catholic but she likes to learn about what we believe and she wants to see what the church is like. So thats what we were able to do this week. I know that God is helping us every step of the way find the people that he is preparing.. Almost everyday this week when all our plans fell through, we decided to contact and we ended up finding new investigators. Things are going really well, I am loving training and I love being companions with Elder Toledo.

This week we are going to try hard to help Elder Toledo talk more in the lessons and have confidence in his ability to explain and teach. I am really excited to train him. I hope that everything is going well for you guys and I hope that you have a great week! Thank you for your emails! Pictures attached: The baptism of Omar last week with all the members, Elder Morrin and I, and Omar with Brother Goytia right after he was baptized. More pictures will be attached in another email!

Elder T. Miles