Family and Friends!!
This week was fantastic!! Full of more finding people to teach and trying to help people make the covenant of baptism!! This week started out splendid. We spent time eating with the Fenn family who invited us over for FHE all about the Family Proclamation.
Tuesday we had to go up to Birmingham for an MLC meeting-fun! We spent almost all day in that meeting and Elder Matthews and I bought matching crab ties. Comp. Unity! That night after we got home we were trying to follow-up and find more people to teach! We have gotten to be very bold and weed out the weak individuals fast with the approach “Hey, have you been baptized?!” It lets us talk to more people about the gospel believe it or not. We found Nikeia (18) and Quentin (15) and started teaching Quentin. (Nikeia ended up living in Montgomery). He was a super bright kid with tons of potential and from that first contact we put them on date to be baptized on June 24! Miracle!!! But we got a phone call a couple days later and his mom told him to tell us that they are baptist. So they dropped us.
Wednesday we went out with a youth in the Ward, Jasher! We took him tracting-because we needed more company-not really but he wanted to come with us-and got to teach two new investigators the Restoration in Elder Matthews “story telling” way. They were both pretty open to the gospel and it seemed to be the right place at the right time for both of them! We haven’t been able to teach either of them again but we are hoping to make better contact this coming week!
Thursday we had an exchange in Prattville with the Clanton Elders that went pretty well. Both of us were finding basically all day but we didn't necessarily find any success. Elder Wamsley likes to use magic as an approach so we went to the park and talked to quite a few people about the gospel after Elder Wamsley found their card. It was something different and unique which made it very easy to talk to people. Also, earlier that day we had a lesson and when we came out just one street over there were tons of cops showing up and blocking off the street and there was a helicopter circling. Apparently there was a drug bust and a cop was shot. Yay!:) Exciting stuff, huh Mom!
Friday was District Meeting and our wonderful weekly planning session that I love. It’s the one thing I won’t be sad to leave in a year. Cool experience that day though, we were at McDonalds and Elder Matthews was using the bathroom (funny story explained later). And so I was sitting at a table watching this worker who looked kinda sad and I felt like I should give him the copy of the Book of Mormon I had. I fought it for a little bit but then wrote in it so that I’d have to give it to him. He was mopping out the Women’s restroom when Elder Matthews was done and we were headed out so I went up to him, asked him his name, and told him that for some reason I felt I needed to give him this book, I promised him that it would bring him joy as it‘s brought me and told him to smile a bit! :) I told him to call us and we could explain more, which he hasn’t yet, but I do know that I did my part. It was the oddest feeling in the most random circumstances but I realized how much I cared about and how much I had learned in the past year to love those around me. I honestly can say that it’s been easy feeling God’s love for His children, even when I don’t know them. Huge testimony builder for me. By the way his name was Jonathan!
Saturday we found all day! Meet with Lee who we determined just doesn’t have the desire or real intent to get baptized at the moment so she’ll be on the back burner. We also sat and talked to her boyfriend, Vince, who came and sat right next to us. We answered some questions about religion that no one had been able to answer before. He might not have accepted the answers but nonetheless, we tried! We prayer tracted that evening and got taken all over the city to different streets! That was interesting because I knew that we had received revelation and where we needed to go each time, but only were able to teach maybe one or two people. I think that it goes to show that God is preparing people who we might even come in contact with, but agency still exists.
I gave a talk on Sunday about Elder Robert D. Hales’ talk this past general conference on “Becoming a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I thought it went well and was told that I was a great public speaker and that I should think about going into law. What do you think Grandpa Shumway and all you others who took that route? We also found Patricia who was the typical “last door” on the street story! When she answered we asked her about her native american statue and told her we had a cool story about Native Americans (the Book of Mormon). She asked what our story was, not knowing what she was getting into, but she still invited us back on Friday!
- Now for the story to be explained later. Friday was a rough day because we had just ended our exchange and we were getting tired of finding and all those feelings that are brought about by missionary work. The STLs in Millbrook were so kind and brought us this box of Sonic chicken and two shakes! It brightened up our day and almost made us cry! About an hour later we were tracting before a couple appointments we had and both of our stomachs weren’t feeling great. Then, right after we knocked on this one door it all hit the bottom of Elder Matthews’ stomach at once and he walked off the porch and started back towards the McDonalds where we parked. He was terrified that he was going to explode out his back end and as I was walking next to him, laughing in shock that he was serious he told me to run and go get the car because he couldn’t walk. When I got to the car I looked back to see Elder Matthews coming as fast as he can, clearly pinching and holding what was soon to be a disaster in. We got to McDonalds without an emergency and all was good after that. Luckily we had found a “Watchtower,” Jehovah Witness’ literature at a door that we took so Elder Matthews had something to read as demons were being cast out of his body. Never will I eat at Sonic again.
It was another great week in Alabama and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Hope the summer is beginning to treat y’all well! I love y’all!
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
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