Hello Friends and Family,
I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year! 2017 is going to be a good one! Elder Morley and I will be staying together for another Transfer in FORT PAYNE!!! We might be getting another Elder in a trio, but both of us are staying here and we couldn’t be more satisfied! I’m going to jump right in and share some awesome experiences we’ve had this week in both Finding and Teaching.
First, on Wednesday we went back to go visit Lindsey who was a referral and was “thinking about converting” (the Referral text). We didn’t get to teach Lindsey because she was asleep but Allen was there. Allen is apparently Lindsey’s best friend who came up to help her out with her kids and he had previously had discussions with Missionaries. We were able to answer some questions revolving around the Book of Mormon and why it is such an emphasis as us as missionaries and we’ll be able to continue to teach him as well as Lindsey. Another testimony that as we make plans, the Lord is then able to place people in our path-whether those people were the “plans” or not.
Thursday was another great day and we had a couple lesson in which the Spirit was almost tangible. Typically every Thursday we go to BIlly’s who is a Recent Convert since about August. On several occasions he invites friends and people he knows to these meetings and then based on who attends we teach what is appropriate. This Thursday there were two non-members there and we taught the Restoration lesson. Along with the Restoration we showed the DVD that talks about Joseph Smith and his life leading up to the First Vision. I have come to love that video more than any other because I know that I can’t deny what that video portrays is a true story and a true experience. After the video was over we briefly covered the last few points of the lesson and extended a soft baptismal invite (meaning we don’t necessarily set a date, but we say something along the lines of “If you come to know these things are true, will you be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?”) to which both Amie and Sue accepted. Lately Elder Morley and I have been teaching the Restoration a lot more and we have been able to extend those soft invitations which I have found very appropriate and in most cases necessary. Those invitations make the investigator have what we like to call “real intent” in discovering the answer for themselves and then knowing what they have to do next after receiving their answer. After that lesson we taught Emily who is our 10-year-old girl on a baptismal date for February 4th. She is a very smart girl and will progress very smoothly so we are looking forward to that with her.
Friday morning we contacted another referral for Aaron. His friend Ben is a Ward Mission Leader in NY and he contacted mormon.org to get missionaries over to see Aaron. When we went to see him he expressed to us his desire to change and noticed how the church blessed Ben’s life so he got interested and then it’s turned over to us. He told us he does drink coffee and smoke but that he is willing to give all of that up in order to have a better relationship with God and be a member of the church. The future is bright for him as well and hopefully we’ll be able to put him on date this coming week. That night we also saw an investigator of over a year named Jeff. I don’t know if I’ve talked about Jeff before but he is a studier of many religions and all different beliefs interest him. Our Branch Mission Leader came with us and we had a simple discussion with him and tried to determine where he really is as far as his views on joining the church. He had some personal things going on and some health issues so he’s in a weird place right now, but before we left Brother Kanouff offered for us to give Jeff a Priesthood Blessing. At first neither of us were excited and I didn’t know what I was going to say in that blessing. I knew I couldn’t preach to him in it-which is what I really wanted to do-but we went ahead and I can’t tell you what I said but I know I said the right things. I don’t know how Jeff took it, I don’t remember anything other than it was one of the weirdest blessings I’ve ever given, but I know it was right. Interesting how the Spirit works.
Saturday we met with a Referral and her family. She told us she didn’t remember orderign a Bible from mormon.org but she invited us in and we taught her, her best friend and her son who all seemed interested in the Restoration. If we hadn’t given out all our copies of the Book of Mormon we would’ve left one of those with them as well but we will stop by again later this week and hopefully have one to give. We also taught Lynn the last of her recent convert lessons and she is solid. She’s looking forward to going to the temple to do baptisms on the 14th of this month and we’re excited for her to progress in the gospel and in the church. She’s awesome.
Then to top off our great week in church on Sunday Elder Morley and I found out that we “Did it!” As missionaries all you hear and all you try to do with the unit you’re serving in is getting them to trust you so that they will bring you their friends and allow us to teach them in their homes. Well, at the beginning of priesthood Brother Youngblood (who goes out with us every Thursday now) told the Priesthood: “These are some of the two best young men and they are the best missionaries we’ve ever had serving in this unit. They are great missionaries and if you have friends get them into your home and then invite these guys over because they are wonderful teachers and are just great missionaries.” I paraphrased from what I remember but essentially that is exactly what he said about us. I couldn’t have been more happier to hear anything else. That is going to be one of the best experiences of my mission without a doubt.
This week…
I was talked into learning how to play the guitar.
Our members in a great lesson started going off on a tangent right after the Restoration video played and destroyed the Spirit….but we brought it back and it was all good.
The entire town shut down because of less than ¼ inch of snow. School had a snow day, businesses closed early that night, roads were closed, and the bread and milk were gone from the stores.
A house we were in had mice running around the room behind me the entire lesson.
In our meeting Friday night our Branch Mission Leader answered the door in a towel.
When talking with an older guy Sunday night he had snot stringing from his nose for a solid minute and Elder Morley and I couldn’t hold in our laughter.
Thank y’all for your prayers and support! I love you and hope you continue to stay safe! If you have any questions or if I can do anything for you let me know! Looking forward to another Transfer here in Fort Payne!
Waffle House Waitress: “Are y’all fixin’ to watch the game tonight?”
Me: “Yes ma’am I reckon the whole state of Alabama is fixin’ to watch the game; Roll Tide!”
#rolltide #nationalchamps2016
Much Love,
Elder Milius
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Godspeed,
ELDER MICHAEL S. MILIUS
ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM MISSION
"Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life." ~3 Nephi 5:13
SNOW in Fort Payne, Alabama!
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