Family and Friends,
I come to all of you this week from Florence, Alabama! My first area is the best and I am going to be spoiled here for most likely a couple transfers.
This week was crazy, getting on a plane to fly to an unknown place where you are going to live for the next two years of your life is pretty overwhelming and I didn’t know what to think. It was the weirdest feeling ever but I am so glad that I am here and there is no where else on this planet where I’d rather be.
From the moment we left the MTC on a bus at 4:00am on Tuesday I felt like I was being thrown back into the world. I talked about the Spirit of the MTC before but I didn’t realize how used to that Spirit I had become until I was sent back to Babylon. However, now that I’m back in “Babylon” it’s interesting to see how the mantle of a missionary really affects the way I go about doing things. Me and my companion, Elder Wheatley, spent a lot of time this past week contacting and setting up appointments with those we meet. We’ve been able to walk the streets because I’m still waiting on my bike to get here (which should be today or tomorrow) but it’s been awesome to find REAL people who need the gospel because of how happy it will make them. Anyways, nothing super crazy happened this week except for me introducing myself to people. The ward is great, but in comparison to the typical wards in AZ it is very small, which has both its positives and negatives. It’s nice having your entire geographical location be on ward. And because of the numbers the ward has a potluck after church on 5th sundays so I was able to experience that. Also, I came into the area on Wednesday...and then found out that all four of the missionaries serving here were giving talks on Sunday. So, along with the two sisters (Sisters Rodriguez and Whitlock) and my companion I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting about “Missionary Work.” It was cool to see how we all took different mediums to discus missionary work but they all connected and flowed from talk-to-talk. I love the church.
I’ve met a lot of cool people who are our Investigators but I’ll just talk about a couple. Lindsey & Dylan: Lindsey is a recent convert of about a week. She literally just got baptized the Friday before I came out and she’s so full of energy and hilarious. Apparently her issue was giving up her sweet tea and she had a longer story about meeting with missionaries in the past but them not teaching her, I don’t really know for sure, but basically she is one of our best friends now. Her husband, Dylan, is still thinking about it. He is the exact opposite of her personality and they are really funny together but we are trying to answer his questions and he has agreed to let us teach him the basic lessons which is a huge step. We are hoping that getting him to see the end result of a Temple Marriage will open him up to being baptized and taking those steps. Pray for him!
CJ & Erica: Erica is a member and CJ, her husband, is not. They have an adorable daughter named Wisdom who is I want to say 1-I played with her during Gospel Principles class, it was fun. CJ has been considering baptism but their financial situation has been bad lately and he has been out of work. The good news is that this past weekend he picked up a decent 8-5 job and they are taking care of him. The bad news is this job will prevent him from being able to come to church with Erica. With CJ we will have to see what happens but he’s in the “I’m not baptized YET” stage and he’s just a really cool, I’m-just-messing-with-you kind of guy.
Thank you for the love and support you all give to me. Hopefully I’ll have pictures for you next week, I forgot my SD card reader in the apartment. But I’ll leave y’all with my testimony that I know this church is true. I know that God loves all of His children, I’ve been able to see that as I’ve walked down the street and seen people as Christ sees them. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s plan for us to bring us Salvation, Redemption, and Happiness; and all three of those things come through Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement. I love the church. I love the gospel. It has brought me so much joy and happiness and that is why I’m on a mission. Not to convert 100 people. Not to bring less-active members back to church. I am here to tell the message of Happiness that I have come to know in my 18 short years, the message of Jesus Christ, and the message of the Restored Gospel. I know it’s true. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Godspeed,
Elder Milius
MISSION OFFICE:
3100 Lorna Rd Ste 107
Birmingham AL 35216
United States
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