A STACK OF DONUTS

Hello, my lovely friends!

I miss you all so much! I am sure I do not tell you that often enough, but I love you all and I am so grateful for your support.

This week was a pretty solid week! 

Last P-Day was absolutely crazy. I didn’t have the chance to write about it, but we had a Sister`s Conference in our mission! Basically, all the sisters in the mission traveled to the Mission Home and had a whole day of activities and learning. It was an absolute party! We did Yoga and Zumba, learned how to become healthier, had spiritually uplifting messages, and they catered some of the best food I have had here in the Philippines! Overall, it was a win!

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week here. 

We had a couple of challenges with people listening to us.

A lot of people tell us:

“I am busy.” Or… “Sorry, I have to leave now.” Or they just hide from us…, which is almost worse. We also experienced a lot of “punting” this week (where our appointments and our backups fell through). All of these things were difficult, but despite some of these difficulties, we also saw miracles.

God still helped us find even more people. And when we didn’t find people, He lifted our spirits so that we weren’t discouraged, which is also a big miracle!

We also had a lot of successes this week! Our ward has started supporting us more! We had ward members who were willing to work with us. It was simply amazing and really made a difference! The lessons that members joined were beautiful. (It is amazing how God works through all the people of the church to spread the gospel.) It was a testimony to me that all of us have special talents and strengths that are needed.

Another success for me was that could see my Tagalog improving! We were at the district meeting that we have every week, and my companion and I were chosen to participate in an activity where we had one minute to teach two principles from random lessons. As I started to teach, I was able to connect the two principles and give an invitation with promised blessing in less than a minute. I was so proud of myself! It was also one of the most stressful things that I have done in a while, but it was so great to see my progress!

My companion and I have been working on eating a little healthier…but we have not been having much success… This week, we were at a lesson behind our Stake President’s house, when we were arriving at the appointment, our Stake President was making fresh donuts! He offered us one, which we obviously accepted, and then we headed to the appointment. However, just as we were getting ready to leave, the sister we had taught brought out a plate STACKED with donuts. We each took one, then two, and then she told us we needed to finish the donuts! I ate FIVE donuts! So much for being healthy, but it was delicious….so I guess I will make it.

…also, we made s'mores this week…again, not healthy, but it was a really good time and my Kabahays had never made s’mores, so it was super fun to teach them!

Overall, it was a great week! I am loving it here and I am loving just getting to throw myself into the work. It is so rewarding! Even when people hide from us, or tell us to go away, I feel joy knowing that I am sharing the gospel. That even though not everyone is interested, there will be someone who will care and be changed by the message of the gospel. It is beautiful being God`s servant in this work!

For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share something my dad sent me from President Hinkley:

“I feel to invite every woman everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourself with thoughts of failure. I hope you will set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do, you will witness miracles come to pass.”

I love this. I know there have been many times this week, or in other weeks where I have felt discouraged. I have wondered if I am even making a difference here. I have wondered if someone who spoke Tagalog better, or who was better at talking to people in general could be doing a better job at sharing the gospel… But then I remember that God called me here. We have been asked to rise to our potential, not beyond it. To me, that means relying on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. To me, that means asking for his help to strengthen us and lift us. God wants us to improve, but He does not want us to become discouraged in that journey to improve. 

When we feel like failures, that is Satan nagging at us. We cannot let Satan in. When we seek to honestly improve and rely on our Savior, we can grow into the people we need to become. 

I love you all so much! Never forget who you are and who you are. I know that God loves you and is so proud of all you do.

I hope you have an amazing week!

I love you!
The church is true, God loves you!
Be happy, Be brave, Be smart
Love,
Sister Miller