The Shepherds

Hello friends!

I feel like I start all my weeks by telling you that it was a great week, but it always is, so here we are again! This week was great!!

Last p-day, Sister Nacar taught me how to make lumpia! It was awesome! I love learning about the culture and learning to make the foods here. Plus, eating all the food was a huge bonus!

This week, we were able to have a Christmas Conference! It was zones of our mission all gathered in Tuguegarao! Each district prepared a short presentation (like singing, dancing, skits, etc.). It was so fun to see all the other missionaries and see their performances! And, as always, the food was so good!

Well…. mostly really good food. One of the things they gave us looked like beef. I miss beef, so I asked for a little extra. Anyway, as I was eating it, I felt like it tasted a little funny and had a weird texture, but I just assumed it was the way they cooked it. Sister Nacar was sitting next to me eating it as well and voiced what I was thinking—she didn’t like it. I asked her what it was… she informed me that I was eating liver! Welp, I stopped eating it after that. Not that liver is that different, but it's definitely not my favorite :). But I always like trying new foods! I don't like it, but it was a good adventure!

The other exciting thing this week is that today is Sister Nacar’s birthday!! I have been preparing all week! It has been so fun to prepare a surprise for her. In case you didn’t know—I LOVE birthdays. I hung decorations, planned gifts, and wrote small notes… the anticipation for her birthday has been so fun!

Other than Sister Nacar’s birthday and Christmas Conference, this week was all about getting to work. We had exchanges last week and were able to find a lot of people, so this week, we visited all our new friends, as well as our other friends. 

It was busy, to say the least! I really feel like Sister Nacar and I run around all day. There are not enough hours in the day to visit all of our friends! Which is really a blessing, but I wish we just had more time in every day!

One miracle this week was…we invited Kenshin and Blessie Mel to be baptized! Both of them have parents who are members of the church. We have had the wonderful opportunity to teach them over the last few weeks. This week, we taught them about baptism and what it means to make a covenant with God. We then invited them to be baptized and they were soooo excited! We talked to their parents too and everyone is excited! 

Actually, Sister Nacar and I are teaching a lot of kids right now. Most of them have parents who are members of the church already. But, we are also teaching kids with their whole family! This is a real blessing to me. Any of you who know me, know that I LOVE kids. My dream job is to work with kids all day, every day. So right now, is a dream come true. These kids don’t care if my Tagalog is not perfect, they want to talk with me and they listen to us! I feel like being able to teach kids is one of the reasons I was assigned to this area. I truly love it. Being able to teach kids is a miracle.

Another miracle we saw this week was with the Astudillo family! The two daughters in this family were baptized last week, and we had been teaching some of the rest of the family, but with not a lot of progress. However, this week, we were able to teach the whole family and their mom has been reading the Book of Mormon whenever she has spare time! It is so exciting! Please keep praying for the Astudillo family.

One more miracle… because I love them so much! This week we had 12 people come to church!! TWELVE!! Ahh!! A month ago, we had no one coming to church, and now we are blessed to have our friends coming. I hope they continue to come to church and see the blessings that come with church attendance.

There are so many miracles here in Tumauini. I truly love the people and I love the area. This week is transfers week. I think I will cry if I get transferred. Please pray that Sister Nacar and I do not get transferred. I would greatly appreciate it. 

Stay tuned for next week to see if I will stay in Tumauini for one more transfer!

For my spiritual thought this week, I wanted to share some thoughts I had from a gift from my mom. She sent me a package and inside was a neat little book about having a Christ-centered Christmas. Now, I have heard all the stories from this book many times in the many Christmas devotionals that my family had each year. However, this year is a bit different.

I will be 100% honest, it doesn’t feel like Christmas here. It is sooo hot, I am far from home, and there are really none of the Christmas traditions I am used to. But this week, as I started to read this book about having a Christ-centered Christmas, I started pondering about what Christmas really is.

In the first chapter, it is about Mary. At the end of the chapter, it asks you to ponder who you would want to be if you could be there on Christmas. Would you want to be the Wise Men? Shepherds? Mary? Joseph? A lamb?

As I took a minute to ponder this question, I realized that I am so blessed. I don’t have to imagine this year. I get to be a real latter-day shepherd this year for Christmas. Over 2,000 years ago, the shepherds were the first to see Jesus Chrust. Then, the shepherds declared the good news of the gospel to all that would listen. This year, I get to declare the good news of the gospel during this special time of year. 

As I thought of my sacred responsibility, the homesickness that was lingering faded. 

Jesus is the reason for the season. I am so grateful to have this time to share the gospel during Christmas. It is beautiful. Because Jesus came, we have hope, we have peace, we have joy. We can be with our families forever. We have purpose in life. The gospel is beautiful. I am so grateful to share it with others.

I invite you all to ponder the question too: if you could be anyone in the nativity that first night, who would you be?

Thank you all for your love and support. You are the best! I really do miss you all during this Christmas season, but I am so grateful to be here in the Philippines!

I love you all!
The Church is true, God loves you
Be happy, Be brave, Be smart,

Love,
Sister Miller