He is Risen

 Happy Easter!!

I hope you all are having the best Easter, celebrating the beautiful sacrifice of our Savior, and feeling His love for each and every one of us! As well as enjoying the joy of knowing that death has no sting, and we can all become clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Even though it was a bit different this year here in the Philippines, it was still wonderful!

 

We had a great week preparing for Easter! We got to share the good news that Christ is RISEN…what else would I want to do during this beautiful spring season?!

 

Because we wanted to share this message with as many people as possible, Sister Bacot and I enjoyed a week of running around like crazy people! On Saturday, our day was so packed that we planned to eat lunch on the side of the highway again, but we didn’t even have time for that! So, we ate as we walked…plus found a store on the side of the road and treated ourselves to ice cream.

 

There were many days this week when our plans simply failed. No one was home… A lesson would fall through…  BUT—despite the disappointments, there were also many miracles!! I truly believe that sometimes when plans change, it's because God has a better plan in mind!

 

I want to share some of the miracles that happened this week:

 

My favorite miracle happened as we were delivering an item to a member’s house. As we arrived, she had some visitors. Her visitors started asking questions about our purpose and our religion, which led to a discussion about the Restoration of the Gospel. One of the visitors was so touched by our message that she invited us to her home to share the message with her whole family. It was a testament that God will help us meet the people that he is preparing.

 

Our next miracle happened later that same day! 

 

We had a bunch of plans, but all of them fell through, and then all of the backup plans fell through too. We had 30 minutes left of work, in the middle of the afternoon, on a holiday Saturday…which means that most people were out of town or sleeping. We were trying to determine where else we could go to spread the gospel when we thought about a sister we had met last week. She usually wasn’t home during the middle of the day due to work, so it felt unlikely that visiting her would be successful. But…we were running out of options, so decided that the spirit was directing us to her. Can you imagine our excitement when she answered the door? She was actually supposed to be at work, but she had a headache and had decided not to go that day!

 

She invited us in, and we met her whole family! We were able to teach her and her family the Restoration of the Gospel. As we got to the First Vision of Joseph Smith, we invited her to imagine it as if it was happening now. (This is where it gets magical.) As we shared it, she closed her eyes and really took it in. When she opened her eyes, her eyes were full of tears. The spirit flooded the room. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had in a long time. We testified that the spirit was testifying of truth. 

 

I know that God was guiding us to her that day so that we could teach her when all of her family was present. Our plans falling through were actually stepping stones for a greater purpose for Him. It was a beautiful lesson, and I am so excited to teach her again.

 

Those were just two of the many miracles that we saw this week. However, I believe as we seek to see miracles, our eyes are opened to God’s hand more and more. For me, I saw the miracles of working with members better, finding people to teach, and helping more people to feel God’s love for them. It was definitely a great week full of miracles!

 

For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share a little about Easter, of course!

 

The Church had a cool Easter study plan this year, and I took a little bit of time to study it during my personal study. My favorite part was the last section about the sacrament. It talked about Jesus visiting America and giving them the sacrament. The less then asked us to consider what we can do to remember Jesus more.

 

I loved this. I feel like as a missionary, sometimes during the sacrament, I am so busy trying to see if any of our friends came, and then worrying about those same friends, that I forget to take the sacrament with the intent to lift myself and repent and become clean. But as I read about the importance of the sacrament, it reminded me that during that short 15-20 minutes, I need to be focused on my Savior and how I can better remember Him.

 

My invitation to all of you is to join me in making the sacrament the most meaningful and important event in our week. 

 

I love my Savior. This is a precious time of year. I know that as we take the time to focus on the Savior, all the other things in life will fall into place.

 

Thank you all for your love and support!

 

I love you all!

The Church is true, God loves you,

Be happy, Be brave, Be smart,

Love, 

Sister Miller