A Person With a Confirmation Date

Hello, my lovely friends!!

This week was an absolute, wonderful, fun disaster!

First, one exciting disaster… We found a new roommate/friend in our apartment! Sunday morning, Sister Hammari was putting the lid on the washing machine when suddenly she screamed!

There was a rat in our washer!

Poor Sister Hammari has had to deal with rats before, so she had rat poison on hand. We are now desperately hoping that our trapping the rat in our washing machine with rat poison will be the end to our rat problems… so far—not so good. We really hope something will happen soon though because we are unable to do our laundry, at the moment! 

As far as the work goes, Sister Bacot and I ran around like crazy! We got to teach a TON of lessons, which was amazing! We met with so many people and were able to see a lot of people progress and get closer to God (my favorite activity)!

One of these people was a new friend that we had just met! Her name is Mia. She is the sweetest. We have been able to teach her twice already! She is keeping commitments and coming to church! Her husband is already a member, and she is very receptive to our message. I am so excited to help her continue in her progression. I can’t help but feel that our meeting her, and teaching her is a direct answer to our prayers in finding the people who are prepared to hear our message. I am so grateful to be God’s tool for His work.

But not just her, … God has blessed us in other areas too! We were able to open a new area in our area this week and we found 12 new people! There is a member (in that area) that invited their friends over, and we all had lunch together. I am so excited to go back to this area and help all the new people that we found. It is so wonderful to be able to work with members to help their friends! The work here in Solano is fabulous and exciting in every way!

Now here is the big news that you have all been waiting for:

Angel got baptized…basically! (But…there were some complications…) It was amazing though! She was so excited. She came to the chapel practically dancing! She was the cutest! It made my heart so happy to see her absolute joy in her decision to be baptized!

However, there were a few complications… First, there were no “small” baptismal clothes! So, she wore a gigantic jumpsuit! We also ended up starting late because the other branch had a baptism too and it wasn’t done yet. 

Once the baptism started it went great! (Well, mostly… the baptizer struggled with the words a couple of times…), but the actual baptism was beautiful. You could see that Angel was glowing. And my heart was full of happiness knowing that my dear friend was making covenants with God.

With that being said, the greatest complication with Angel’s baptism wasn’t on her baptism day, but rather the next day. (I know… you thought I was done speaking about complications. Sadly, not quite.) The “real” problem started when Angel was not able to make it to church. Which means… she was not confirmed a member of the church…yet! If I am being honest, it crushed me that she did not make it. I am sure that God is teaching me patience... I do know that it will all work out. And thankfully, she truly wanted to be there, but some things happened—out of her control—that kept her from our meetings.

She will be confirmed next week, and I am positive that it will be amazing. She is already preparing to go to the temple and join the youth camps this summer. Next week she will be an official member of the church! And officially have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I am seriously dying inside that she is missing this important piece, but the Lord calms my heart and gives me peace that it will happen. So, stay tuned for the “official” news next week.

In other news, I HIT ONE YEAR AS A MISSIONARY. It is hard to believe that I have been serving for a full year now. From my first day of online MTC to stepping foot in the Philippines, it has been an adventure!  

All adventures have highs and lows. This adventure is no different. There have been really hard moments, but amazing moments too. I have learned what it truly means to cry to the Lord at all times. I have learned to build a relationship with MY Savior. I cannot even express in words all that I have learned and experienced in the last year. It has been the hardest… The best… The most rewarding year of my life! I cannot wait to see what the next 6 months will bring, how my testimony will grow, what I will learn, and who I will become.

For my spiritual thought this week, I just want to end with my personal testimony.

 I know that I am a child of God. I know that God loves all of His children, and He is aware of us wherever we are. I know that the challenges in this life help us grow closer to Him. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that He loves us. I know that this church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the truest book on the earth. It has changed my life. It has taught me how to follow the Savior with my whole heart. It has taught me how to be a better person. 

I am so grateful for this gospel. I am so grateful for God’s plan to bring all of us home. I know that as we come unto Christ, we can become perfected in Him. And we can receive the blessings of Grace in our lives.

I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true way to be happy here on earth.

 God is so good. I know that He loves me, and He will never leave me alone.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thank you, everyone, for your love and support during the last year as I have been a missionary, but also for your support my whole life. I love you!

The Church is true, God loves you,
Be happy, Be brave, Be smart,

Love,
Sister Miller