25 June 2018 - Elder Milius Week 104

Weatherly got wet!

This was a phrase that Elder Maness used a lot when he served here and he was here for about 7.5 months. We finally did it though. I'll send pictures! :) Other than that not too eventful of a week, but when you're competing with a baptism nothing else as a missionary is more exciting. We did find a few more potentials to start working with and re-contacted a couple formers who are interested still. Fun times, fast times!

Number One:

Evans Baptism was amazing. I don't really know how else to describe it. As a missionary you always kinda hope that you'll be able to baptize your last transfer; that you'll be able to see one more person enter into the waters of baptism. Fortunately, Heavenly Father allowed me the privilege of being a "lucky" Missionary. I can't thank my Heavenly Father enough for being able to watch the Latham family. Thoughts of Alma 32, Moroni 6, and 2 Nephi 31 come to mind when I think of their process and mine with them. But, it was more than just a baptism, it was more than just one person starting on the path, it was more than I could have ever thought. It was a family taking a huge step to come back on the path, and it was a young boy who was setting the example and bringing Light to his family, and it was a ward who, after years of trying, finally got to see some of the fruits of their efforts. It was perfect. I can begin to express the spirit that was at that particular service. All were emotional, and I believe it's because we all understood that it was much bigger than what we actually saw. Evans Baptism was not only something he will remember for the rest of his life, but something all those who were in attendance, myself included, will never forget. It has been a miracle long coming with the prayers, fasting, hard work, and patience in the Lord's work exhibited by members and missionaries alike. I know that the Lord is aware of all of His children. And I know how much He cares about the little things. I am a witness that this is His Gospel, it is His church, and it is the way to live with our Father in Heaven-and our families again-for all eternity.

And, if that whole experience wasn't enough, his confirmation topped it off. I was asked to confirm him (the last time I was asked to do that for a lady who got baptized in Fort Payne the Branch President started the ordinance himself, haha) and all morning I was thinking of things to bless him with. In the end however, I can't tell you what I said but I know that he is going to be a huge leader and example in the future to his family and to all those he associates with. It was a powerful experience and an even greater miracle to be a part of it.

Moving on from that, I want to share a story about last week. We were playing sports in the gym on P-Day and one of the Elders in our District started having some breathing problems and problems controlling his heart rate. After him resting a bit he asked for a blessing. I had the privilege to anoint and then Elder Hanratty (remember him?) gave the blessing. It was a neat experience first because I remember giving a blessing two years ago in the MTC with Elder Hanratty, and both of us have come a long way. That was kinda nostalgic. Second however, it was powerful having five 19 or 20 year-olds in a circle giving a blessing to one of their friends. How amazing it was to me to stand and feel the "spiritual power" coming from us missionaries. Normal kids our age don't do what we had the opportunity to, and to me that was an event worth reporting.

District Meeting this past week was another one of those spiritual, "this-wouldn't-normally-happen" experiences. We had a really good discussion on how to teach the members of the church how to do missionary work. I believe that most members want to share the gospel and just don't really know where to start. That's where our responsibility comes in as the missionaries, to help them find out where! It's never been so clear to me until now how important of a job it is to teach and train the members in this great gathering that the Prophet is calling us all to participate in.

Following District Meeting we had exchanges up in Byrd Springs. I went out with Elder Braithwaite...again. Its weird to go out with people you've already been out with just in different places. Back when I was in Tupelo I went on an exchange with Elder Braithwaite and also after I moved to Smithville, we went on exchanges. Anyway we went and visited several members and did some great work there. We had this one lesson with Sister Hundley who has been less-active for a while. Elder Braithwaite hadn't even met her he had only talked to her on the phone. But we went and visited for a while, brought Brother Gallagher with us-which was amazing-and the Spirit got really strong. So strong in fact that she literally said, "I don't know, I believe in God it's just hard for me to feel like I have a personal relationship with Him." How plain and clear is that for a concern?! So we invited her to pray to know if God loved her and to read the Book of Mormon looking for God's love. It was a really cool lesson and I'm glad I got to be a part of it. The rest of the exchange went pretty well, a lot of good laughs.

Like I said, we contacted a few other people and re-contacted others. One of those was a guy named Eric. He had been taught a little under a year ago and was really interested, on baptismal date and everything. Well he backed off for a while and we haven't been able to contact him since we've been here. Until one day when it was stormy outside. We decided to walk to see this lady we had previously met and she wasn't home. I thought to go down a particular street to knock on some doors. And, what do you know, we tracted into Eric's in-laws and he came out and met us! His son Aiden met us too and was pretty excited to see the missionaries again. That was cool. I'm convinced that at this point any thought I receive comes from the Spirit so I just kinda follow it and it usually works out. Another experience that was kinda like that, a domino effect, started with the Brownings. We had them for dinner but they had to cancel. So we came and ate at home and therefore spent the time around hear finding rather than by their house. We went to an apartment complex and followed-up with a guy we met who was more or less actually interest and found Alesha. She had talked to missionaries before and said she would let us know when we could come back this week. Then we ran into another former named Anthony who set up an appointment for us to come back Wednesday. Spiritual Dominoes is a fun game haha!

Last night we had a cool meeting with the Shellmans. Sister Shellman, the member, has been super stressed. We had planned to share a Restoration lesson with them but instead ended up talking about the trials and pressing forward and telling jokes. Sometimes, a joke can be as powerful as a scripture.

We met several other people just by talking to everyone--funny how that works. That's one thing that I hope I'll be able to keep up once I got home, talking to everyone.

Funny Ones:

• The Parable of the Sundae: After District Meeting we went to Dairy Queen and all got lunch. It took a while for some of us to get food and stuff but eventually we all got it except for Elder Holm's summer-berry blizzard. The lady came around the corner with summer-berry sundae in hand. Immediately Elder Holm politely corrected her when she offered it to him and told her he ordered a blizzard. She said okay and then asked if anyone wanted it and Elder Briggs quickly responded in the affirmative. Elder Holm got what he asked for eventually, but missed the opportunity to have a Sundae as well. Just as blessings come in life, we sometimes are too busy looking for exactly what we want that we miss the small miracles and opportunities right in front of us. When it comes to receiving answers, blessings, miracles, or guidance...don't be picky.
• Over the phone Elder Holm said, "Fortune Cookie" in an Asian accent and it sounded like he said a naughty word cookie...
• While on Exchanges

-Elder Holm: "Gordon B Hinckley said tracting is horrible!"

-Me: "That is not what he said."

• Elder Braithwaite fell on his bike and almost ate it. The funny part was when I came up on the curb I thought to myself, "I wonder if he will make it up that." My thoughts were interrupted by him falling.
• I saw a bumper sticker that said "I'm a Rocket Scientist." Only in Huntsville.
• Is 'color' spelled with an "-ar?" "Motar?"
• As we were about a mile or more away from home on foot we got a text for a tornado warning. Unfortunately I didn't have to use my Priesthood to stop the storm.
• We ate at this place called Peppered Pig. It was a good truck with amazing barbecue. Not really a funny story but it was good food!
• Someone yelled, "Hail Satan!" at us as we were walking down the street. That's literally like the fifth or sixth time we've gotten that. Maybe it's the same people.
• We brought three clipboards in to church for different sign-up lists.
• We found a bike route street sign that fell down in a storm and I want it. Those bolts are hard to undo though :/

It was a good week. And one of the lessons I learned the most was that Ferris Buller had it right. He said, "Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." As a missionary and as a missionary with two weeks left to go I want to get as much in as I can. While that is good, sometimes I feel like you can go too fast and forget to stop and look at all the miracles around you. You can forget to stop and laugh with you companion or other missionaries and you can forget that this is His work and it will get done eventually, so enjoy being a part of it. I love this work and I know it's true. If nothing else, it's changed me.

Scriptures of the Week:

"To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth....

"Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

"And if it be by some other way it is not of God.

"And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

"If it be some other way it is not of God.

"Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?

"Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together....

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

"And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

"He that is ordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest, notwithstanding he is the least and the servant of all."

(D&C 50:14-26)

I love y'all! Hope you have a blessed week!

Much Love,

Elder Milius

-- 

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

18 June 2018 - Elder Milius Week 103

I’m not done yet!

Don’t be alarmed, there will still be a few more emails after this one; it will go over 104 so don’t get too excited. This week was another good one. We had Zone Conference, which is always good and had a couple great experiences that helped me get through this week without thinking too much of other things. Unfortunately we didn’t find anybody new but things are still looking like they are going to be okay.

First off, as of late, the Latham boy is getting baptized this Saturday! It’s been really cool to be able to teach the family and have them all get back involved with church and everything, especially Mom. She is trying to figure some stuff out in her life and this is helping her a ton. Hearing from other members she’s expressed how grateful she is to have missionaries back in her home and that was a pretty cool moment for me to know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Also, with the baptism coming up it’s been amazing to see how involved the Ward is getting in the program and fellowshipping that family. There have been plenty of homes that we’ve been in and they’ve mentioned how it’s good to see the Latham family coming back. Everything just seems to be going exactly how it needs to with all of them. I’ll be sure to send you some pictures of the baptism this weekend.

Now that I’m talking about baptisms, I’m going to interject with a story that involves my former colleagues (I call them colleagues because I served with them in Hoover before I left there and when I left they both came to Huntsville YSA). Flashback to the beginning of our first transfer here. We knocked into a guy named Dylan. He was a less-active YSA member that expressed a desire to get himself back into church, crazy “coincidence.” The Dances, a senior couple serving in the Huntsville YSA Branch had been looking for Dylan for the past 8 months with no luck; and we just happen to stumble upon him. For the Dances, that was a miracle, and at that, only the beginning. We found ourselves back in the complex a couple weeks after finding Dylan and decided to see how he was doing. He ended up not being home but we met his girlfriend, Kaby (“K-B”). She told us that she used to talk with missionaries in the past and had lost her Book of Mormon but she loved the church and everything she remembered was good. We gave her another copy of the Book of Mormon and told Sister Birch and Sister Johanson (my former colleagues) to visit and teach Kaby. Their first visit went well and the miracle that was unfolding continued. We got word not too long after that that Kaby was on date to be baptized on June 16th. For a while following we didn’t hear too much and wondered if things were still working out. Zone Conference rolls around this past week and the Sisters come up to us and told us that Kaby was still getting baptized. Turns out that she had moved out of Dylan’s apartment, moved in with a few other YSA girls, had found a job, and had gotten a car--all the things she needed to be prepared for her baptism temporally and such. All of this because Sister Birch and Sister Johanson prayed with her for miracles. I testify that the Lord is in charge of His work. Many times we don’t get to witness the fruits of a contact that we make, but this time Elder Holm and I did. I’ll attach some pictures that Sister Birch posted on Facebook so you can get her take as well.

Back to the rest of the week and other investigators. Wil is doing awesome. We had a couple meetings with him this past week, one was with a member which was perfect for him. We talked a lot about baptism and the Book of Mormon and coming to know this is all true. He understood it all and the testimony of Brother Hendrickson helped so much. Then yesterday we went over and didn’t really plan a lesson. We wanted to visit with him and just talk for a bit, then leave a spiritual thought--Patterns of Light: Spiritual Revelation by David A. Bednar. It was really cool to be able to sit and talk and be more like a normal friend with someone, rather than a professional, business, “I-want-you-baptized” missionary. While you do desire the salvation of others and the baptism of them, if someone realizes those expectations then there isn’t much else you can do to push those expectations. He is now working toward July 21st for his baptism and we are trying to get him involved with the YSA. In regards to the video he mentioned how his first steps into the fog were him letting us in and asking the questions he had. Then desiring to know more has caused him to take more steps along that path. Wil gets it, and after a week of not feeling real successful because of the lack of new investigators, I feel confident that the Lord is helping us in this work. I can’t tell you the joy I felt when Wil expressed his thoughts and feelings and I can’t express the confirmation of the Spirit that came to me to allow me to know that I am doing something right.

Other than Wil there isn’t too big of news. Marlon read the Book of Mormon and we are going over there to talk  to him and Annette this evening. Our goal is to get them both on board for baptism, starting with attending Sacrament Meeting. Cathy called us again and I’m not sure exactly what to report. She’s been acting kinda off lately and I’m not sure if we are on good terms with her or what...We met with Donna again and helped her with her family history. We didn’t get too much done this coming week we are helping her get involved with the family history consultants here. We met a nice lady named Mary who told us when we approached her, “Yeah I’ve seen missionaries but I’ve never been that interested in talking with them” and by the end of the conversation we were answering questions about what we believed in and leaving her with a pamphlet. I love people like that! We went and taught a lady who we had previously made contact with named Patricia. She let us in and was interested in taking a copy of the Book of Mormon to read. Due to her health though she doesn’t want to set a time so hopefully we’ll just be able to catch her at the right time again. We also talked to a guy right outside of our dinner appointment named Daniel. He’s 19 so he will probably go to the YSA eventually but maybe we can get that started again like we did with Kaby.

Funny Blips:

• Elder Canty quoted Helaman 5:12 in his email home and it was totally not from the Book of Mormon. He said he googled the reference and copied and pasted what came up…
• We’ve been running away from storms and rain all week. But, we haven’t gotten wet. :)
• A nice lady who lives down the street from us invited us over for dinner. We had hush puppies, french fries, and fried fish. Southern home-cooking for sure.
• I got hugged by a random little girl playing in an apartment complex on Wednesday. Tender moment for me, haha!
• We were talking to the workers in Walmart and one of the ladies found a used condom in the women’s room.
• Tim Croy. We met him when we were out doing some work out in Lacey Springs and he told us, “Sorry y’all, I’ve drank about 30 beers and smoked a bunch of weed…” He’s like in his late 50s too. Funny guy, he sang a song and played the guitar for us too. He can’t play the guitar though.
• Brother Messervy said that he had a ton of church books he is willing to give away. Here is how my collection and library of church books starts!!
• Elder Holm’s brother drove through Huntsville and dropped off a jacket for him at our doorstep. He didn’t knock, just left the bag.
• We met a lady named Joyce who was trying to contend a little bit with what we believe. We won though.
• Along those lines we met a guy named Rye who told us that Jesus isn’t real because there is no proof. Also, God is a Woman.
• Sonic messed up my drink the other night and I was not the happiest. But they were trying...poor workers. The lady who was in charge said that she knew who mormons were because of her Aunt. However, she found that aunt eating dog poop and grass in her backyard once so she’s cautious. Great, huh?
• We had pie for Father’s Day at the end of priesthood. Then we got stuck with a 4.68LB Apple Pie that was leftover. Everyone gives their leftovers to the missionaries.

As I said before, it was a good week. I don’t think I’ll ever have a bad week on my mission, and if I do it right, I’ll never have a bad week for the rest of my life. God is watching out for us and he doesn’t call us to fail he calls us to succeed. Living in the South for two years has taught me several things, but more than all I’ve learned what it means to be a Christian. People say that “Southern Hospitality is a thing!” but I’ve found the reason why: It’s because True Christians serve others. That’s what I’ve noticed this week; service is the epitome of Christianity. We know that Mosiah 2:17 says, “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” I believe that it can also go the other way:

“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your God ye are only in the service of your fellow beings.”

I hope y’all have a blessed week! If you have any questions or need anything please let me know.

Much Love,

Elder Milius

-- 

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

4 June 2018 - Elder Milius Week 101

Good morning y'all!

Here we are again, another week down and several more to go-thank goodness. This week was busy with a lot of good people and a lot of miracles. There is truly nothing like being a missionary!

The Latham Family came to church on Sunday! That was so cool and such a miracle. The young boy is still on date for the 23rd and if all goes well that will continue to be the case. Church was their big stumbling block but now it's a stepping stone. What was even cooler was the kids came with Brother Calderwood and we didn't really expect Mom to be there. But we got a text from her saying that she would be late. After Sacrament she came up and it was a sight to see that family together in the chapel. The greater sight was when all the ward members went up and gave hugs and hellos. I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for that family as they start to keep the commandments and regain their footing on the path.

That was the big miracle for me this week but we also had a couple of other sweet experiences. We taught Wil again and he is doing great. He said he was reading and doing all sorts of other research online and stuff. He said he had found some YouTube videos so I was skeptical at first, but they what he was describing didn't sound Anti or awful. That is a miracle in and of itself sometimes! But he is still trying to know if this is something he wants to do.

We taught AL again and he is kinda stuck in the same place. We are trying to help him come to know that modern-day prophets are true. However, right before we were going to knock on his door I mentioned that I felt we should teach him something from the Plan of Salvation. I didn't know what it was or where it was going to go but before we could talk about it AL answered and we went in. We ended up having a great lesson and talked about the afterlife a little bit. If anything it gave him something else to think about. It's been interesting to see the Spirit take over lesson after lesson with the people we are teaching.

This past week we had a great lesson with Annette and Marlon. She really opened up about her past and her feelings. She told us that when we had first come to knock on the door she didn't want to answer because Marlon wasn't taking his medication and was acting up. She watched us knock and walk away and she prayed that God would send us back. Well, thanks to Marlon asking for a Book of Mormon we came back and it's been a blessing to us and them. Hopefully the gospel will continue to change their lives for the better.

We went and saw Rose again this week and helped her put up a medicine cabinet. She really appreciated that; yay for service! We went to see a couple that we met a little bit ago, Janice and Herold. Janice is really ill and appreciated our visit. I don't know if they will ever progress but they are nice people who are open to us and who need a pick-me-up every now and again. We made contact with a few others this week but nothing else super special.

Finding wasn't too bad though. We found a couple solid potentials, Dawson and Abby. We tracted into them on two different occasions in two different places so don't get too confused there. Dawson was open to hearing our message and we are going to try and see him sometime this week. Abby was a cool story. Last night was the President Nelson devotional and we were told we could watch it. Well, without and investigator there and without a ride we didn't want to bike all the way up to the church. So we decided we would watch it from home off of our neighbors Wi-Fi (shout-out to the Hills). We came on later than it started though, around 8:00pm and it must have already ended so we didn't have access to it. Instead of sitting inside for the rest of the night we went to make some follow up visits near our apartment. The first fell through but the second is where we met Abby. She literally told us, "Well I actually have a Mormon friend who lives out in Utah and I am genuinely interested in what y'all believe in..." We set up an appointment for Wednesday!

Brandon was another guy we ran into who seems excited to learn. Elder Holm felt one day to go back to an apartment complex we had previously visited and there wasn't really much work there. But. He couldn't shake the feeling (I learned this after the fact) so we went. We followed up with some people we already knew and then saw Brandon taking some stuff inside his apartment. We offered to help and brought in a keyboard for him. After talking for a bit we learned that he grew up religious and is interested in learning more about other beliefs. We left him with a Book of Mormon and said we would come back Tuesday. He also asked for some convert stories so if yours is amazingly cool and you want to share it with Brandon, type it up and send it it me. It'll be fun to work with him though. Stephanie was another lady we ran into. We actually met her a couple weeks ago but finally went back and were able to teach her a little more about the Book of Mormon and things. She took a copy and was excited to read it. We are looking forward to teaching her more tomorrow as well!

In the midst of all the miracles...

• Sister Latham punished one of her daughters by shaving her head. Literally took a No. 1 all around.
• We met Mr. Teofilo and he took us out to dinner. He and his wife used to be members but now their mission is to feed the missionaries.
• We went to see Cathy again. She's doing great, but not interested in changing churches. Also, the guy who took us out to lunch a few weeks ago who kept saying we believe in a different Jesus because we don't believe in the Trinity--he is their Pastor. Lol! Apparently he talked about taking us out to lunch to his congregation... Great, huh?
• We took a Watchtower off of a door when we were knocking and realized when we got home that there was a handwritten note with it. I felt kinda bad, only kinda though.
• We stopped and asked a lady if she needed help only to find that she was puking next to her car. That was awkward.
• I've been so creative recently: I made a new flag for my bike and made a rubber band ball. Now I'm reading "Discourses of Brigham Young" to keep me busy.
• There was an old, and I mean old, lady about to trim her hedges when we rode by. We stopped to help her and then Elder Holm almost gave her back the electric trimmers to do it herself. Luckily he took them back and did it for her.
• Got caught in the rain one morning. A nice couple let us take shelter in their home so we missed the brunt of it. But we still had to ride home on bikes through it.
• We went to help do service at Camp Hulaco. Pretty place.
• One evening we were going to tract only to find ourselves surrounded by Baptist children putting flyers on doors in the apartment complex. We left and went to another street only to find them again. We were surrounded, so we vacated the area.
• We helped our neighbor move in one evening.
• I talked to two people from Tupelo within an hour of each other. It was fun to talk about NE Mississippi again!
• I got several pieces of parenting advice from Brother Calderwood, the Magonigal and the Roots. I was also recruited to come start a Pediatric Practice in Huntsville.

A lot was done this week and a lot was learned. Reflecting on the week I've noticed that there are a lot of things that help us as missionaries fulfill our mission, that is: tracting, planning, studying, doing service, helping the members, teaching both members and non-members, etc. Though good, all these activities are a means to a greater end. Now, Facebook and other technological tools are also means to that greater end which is to invite others to come unto Christ by receiving the Restored gospel. With a greater emphasis on service in the ward, particularly to the ward members, I worry that the end of helping people be baptized will be lost.

Along with that thought, it's become interesting to me to see the difference between what I desire to do from the beginning of my mission to now. I had a brief conversation the other day with Elder Holm about teaching on P-Day. I stated that even though it is Preparation Day and we need to use that day to prepare for the upcoming week, it's still not "your day." We are still on the Lord's time doing his work and depending on the situation I would feel fine and be totally willing to teach at 12:00pm on a Monday. I said if I had to choose between playing basketball and teaching... "Basketball!" he interjected. "That's where we differ Elder, I would rather teach." Had I been out on my mission just a few months I'm sure I would have felt the same immediate response to basketball. But, over time I guess I've learned that the greatest joy comes from helping, serving, and sharing with others the message of the Restoration. What's an even cooler discovery is that we are all missionaries and are all called by God to do the same, but it's up to us how we are going to prioritize those activities. I've come to realize that the most important things are never about you.

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Much Love,

Elder Milius

PS: Check out a cool video Elder Holm and I made up in Facebook about the Book of Mormon!! 

  

-- 

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