24 April 2017 - Elder Milius Week 43

Hello!!!

Well y’all, it has been a crazy couple of weeks and it’s not slowing down. We’ve just had so much of the extremes happen to us but they have both ended with a baptism and it looks like this week will end with one as well! 

I want to tell y’all about the amazing baptism we had this week though! Tyrone has been working with missionaries for the past year, year and a half. His wife and 5 kids were all baptized that long ago, but he wasn’t ready to get baptized with them. He named off 11 different missionaries who have taught him up to us. Last Tuesday when we went over to talk to him we hit the baptismal interview questions hard and one of his biggest issues has been giving up smoking. He’s been trying to quit for 5 years and when we had asked him to give us the cigarettes he had in his house. He told us he hadn’t smoked in a while but he would give them to his brother. We weren’t going to leave without getting the temptation out of his house and so he gave them to us. After his baptism he told me that since I had taken the pack of cigarettes he hadn’t had the urge to smoke at all. It was a huge testimony to me that the power of God is real and the Holy Ghost can be there to help all of His children. In addition to that miracle, the baptismal service was the most spiritual environment I’ve heard outside of the temple. He was so excited and going into the font he had the biggest smile on his face. After coming out of the water Tyrone broke down in tears. I knew at that moment how special an ordinance Baptism is and how meaningful it is to make that step as individuals are humble and prepared. I’m so glad to be able to be a part of helping this entire family become united in the gospel, the Lord is doing his work and we are just the instruments.

Shannon is now getting baptized this coming weekend! It’s been cool for me to see her progress so quickly and to be with her during her roller coaster ride of emotions. She came to Tyrone’s baptism on Saturday and I don’t think she’s been more sure about anything in her entire life than her decision to be baptized after coming to see Tyrone’s. Satan is hitting her hard and trying to get her to slip up with some Word of Wisdom issues but I know, through Tyrone, that just as real as the power of the Adversary is the power of the Holy Ghost and as long as our desires are good He will help us through the rough times-and let me tell you the week leading up to baptism is rough for almost everyone. But that’s what I will look forward to tell y’all about next week!

To give you a couple more updates on some people. Jalessa is still struggling to find her testimony strong enough to get Sundays off to come to church so we are hoping to continue to help her work through that! Church is one of the hardest things to commit people to, especially when they hear that it’s three hours. Kendra is going to be doing great! We went by to visit her yesterday and she how she was doing because we weren’t able to go teach her this past week-she’s busy moving. But we played with her two twin little girls, London and Lauren who are 3. Kendra is awesome and is already looking to get Sundays off so that she can come see how church is but other than that she’s started the Book of Mormon and loves and believes it so far! Emily is a new investigator this week, she is Chance’s younger sister (Chance was the young man who was baptized a week ago). She has a lot of potential and we are hoping to help her progress more quickly! The two boys we are teaching , Trevor and Sebastian have decided that they want to be baptized but their Dad is wanting them to understand the commitment that they are making and find out when is the best time. Last week we committed them to look at a calendar and pray about what day they feel they should be baptized so hopefully God answers those prayers! He does for me as a missionary when we are trying to figure out when to invite someone. Trish and Sunny are falling off the table and into an “eternigator” (eternal investigators) pool but they are still great people and will figure it out one day! 

All in all, I love my mission. Even through the hard times I don’t think I’d rather be anywhere else! The people that I am able to meet and the relationships I have grown have impacted my life so much for the better it’s unbelieveable! I love it, and I love the Lord! He knows best! Hope y’all are doing well and counting your blessings everyday because they are there! Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, I love y’all! Make it a great week! 

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

Elder Milius with his Distict

 Missionaries ARE Superheros!

 Elder Milius and Elder Schrubb with Tyrone

 Tyrone and his family on his baptism day

17 April 2017 - Elder Milius Week 42

People from Az and Around the World,

I told you Wetumpka was about to get wet!! Chance, the 18-year-old that we got from the Sisters was baptized last Saturday and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost in church on Easter Sunday! That was probably one of the biggest highlights of this week! We were able to see Chance a few times leading up to Saturday and he was just prepared. At his baptism he gave a very powerful testimony about coming to church years before and becoming close to a couple families in the Ward. He mentioned that he should’ve made the decision a long time ago but now, he was truly happy. It was everything you as a missionary want to hear from a Recent Convert. And to make it even better his family (Mom, mom’s boyfriend, and little sister) were all there to support him. They all paid very close attention as well to all the talks and things which was great for us to see so we will let you know about how teaching them goes! But, very proud of Chance and of the Ward for their help and hospitality towards this young man.

To add on in continuation of the miracle we saw with Shannon last week about getting Sundays off to come to church things just keep happening with her and Joe (her LA husband). This past week we went to visit them and as the conversation went on Elder Schrubb and I both felt the “kick of the Spirit” (that’s the best way to describe this impression) told us to bring up the Word of Wisdom. Shannon drinks lots of coffee and sweet tea and neither of us knew how to bring it up or what to say except that we needed to. So we began to bring up the fact that in order for Shannon to prepare for baptism she was going to have to give up her coffee and tea. “NO! I can’t. I’ve tried before and I can’t! I need it for my migraines!,” she went off and yelled. We continued to work through her concerns and told her our plan to help her off of them (Mio makes a great ‘Sweet Tea’ flavor and there is a coffee replacement called ‘Pero’ that we were going to try). We also brought up her experience with Sundays and using Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21 promised her the blessing she would receive by changing, or repenting. A complete 180 happened and she was all for quitting. THEN we went over later that week and told her we had the Mio and were waiting for the Pero but that she was going to have to trade us all her stuff for it. She told us that drinking it made her sick and she wanted it all out of her house. Needless to say we have two grocery bags full of coffee and tea in our apartment waiting to donate to the Food Pantry. And to top it all off her and Joe made it to Sacrament meeting yesterday which was amazing! We’ve moved her baptism up to the 6th of May and she’s progressing head first for the font! 

Another Investigator that we received from the Sisters pool is Jalessa. She is basically ready for baptism and we had a couple awesome lessons with her this past week. We put her on date for April 29th! Her biggest hold up is work on Sundays so we challenged her to ask for work off and promised her that she would be blessed. We’ve been making a lot of people promises and it’s been the coolest thing to see all these promises being fulfilled. I know that D&C 82:10 is true and that we as missionaries are authorized representatives of Him. 

Tyrone!! He is the husband of a part-member family. All his kids and his wife were baptized a little over a year ago and now he’s ready. We tried to visit him a few times….several times this past week because he had a baptismal date for the 22nd (this Saturday) with no luck. We did catch his wife and told her that if he was serious he needed to be at church. So she apparently kicked him in the butt because he showed up to church on Sunday!! We talked to him and he told us that he’s been putting it [baptism] off for too long and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to be ready. We scheduled everything up for when we need to see him this week and so lots of prayers that he’s serious about it! If he is we will have another baptism this coming weekend!

We also have a New Investigator, Kendra. A couple weeks ago we went to make a few follow-ups in an apartment complex with no luck. So, I asked Elder Schrubb where we should knock next. He (being lead by the Spirit) walked up to a door where we meet and scheduled a time to come talk with Kendra. She in non denominational because of some doctrinal differences she had with a previous pastor. As we taught the restoration this past week it was so cool to see everything click. She also asked a few questions that helped us find common beliefs with her, the biggest one being our belief in a Heavenly Mother. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson we are hoping to work with her more this coming week and help her get on date for baptism! 

This past week we were also able to go to Gardendale for our Zone Conference and Temple Trip. Our Zone Conference was focused on Repentance and having that lead right into the Temple was perfect. I had the thought of how Repentance applies to the “Good, Better, Best” mentality that we are all familiar with because of Elder Oaks. Especially to us as Missionaries, we aren’t needing to repent every day of these major things, and while everything we do is “goo” maybe there are things we can do that would be “better” or music that we could listen to that would be “best” but anyways I love the temple so that was another highlight!

• We learned how to pour concrete, so add that to my repertoire. The Millbrook Sisters were there as well and so we made plans to start our own construction business.
• Isabel (the little 6-year-old in our picture) is the most adorable thing on the planet. She is the daughter of some “investigators” that live in our apartment complex and as we were getting out of our car last night she ran up to us and and gave both Elder Schrubb and I huge hugs and she’s just the best! Meets no strangers! I would wait 12 years for her like it was crazy cute! And she’s here for a week so we’ll be hanging out with her more often.
• We hung out with Jay again this week (the guy who talked to us about sex for an hour) and he invited us to dinner. We ate Rabbit stew and it was a very memorable time! 
• We killed a snake and then later found our it was a Water Moccasin.
• There was a couple making out in the parking lot in front of our apartment...in broad daylight.

And all of it leading into a wonderful Easter Sunday to reflect and remember our Savior, Jesus Christ. We had several people at church and it was just a good day spent focused on the #PrinceOfPeace.

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.”

~D&C 76:22-24

I add my testimony to the divinity of a Living Christ. In Elders Quorum we talked about why we don’t use the cross as a symbol of Christianity. President Hinckley said, answering that question, that “We worship a Living Christ instead of a Dead Christ and therefore don’t use the cross as our symbol if Christianity...our symbol is us, the members, His Living Disciples.” I know that Christ Lives again so that we might live again. I know that He is directing His church and His work, and I’m grateful to be a part of it! I love y’all! Happy Easter and make it a great 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

 We killed a snake and then later found our it was a Water Moccasin.

 Zone Conference Temple Trip

Elder Shrubb and Elder Milius

 Elder Milius and Elder Morley

 Elder Milius & Elder Shrubb with Chance for his baptism

Elder Shrubb and Elder Milius with Brother Norell

Elder Shrubb, Isabel, Elder Milius

10 April 2017 - Elder Milius Week 41

World Outside of the Great State of Alabama,

How is everyone doing! I’m happy to report that after some bigger storm that blew through this past week everyone is safe and doing great in their new areas! Transfers was a blast, as always, and I’ll be sending some pictures of my favorite Missionaries! I did have to send off my son, Elder Harris, to Mississippi but life still goes on and he’s going to kill it. Elder Schrubb came with me to Wetumpka and we’ve hit it off pretty good I’d say. Like Elder Morley, he came out with me so we are having some fun reminiscing on the past 9 months and how much they’ve flown by! So, without further ado let me get to talking about some of the investigators we are now working with from the Sisters who both got transferred out of the area. 

Chance Mann. This is one of the investigators the Sisters were working with. He is getting baptized this coming week (hopefully). We are meeting with him tonight so I’m sure I’ll be able to tell you more about him next week. But from what I know he is an awesome young man who is 18. He grew up being taught morals from his Masonic Grandfather and is super prepared for the gospel. He is going into the military here pretty soon and is the friend of one of the members in the ward. We’re excited for him and excited to help him make his baptismal covenants. The Britts are another awesome family that we were able to meet. They are a part-member family and the two boys (12 and 9) were being taught. We are looking forward to meeting with them more often and helping them become ready for baptism, again, hopefully sooner than later. Tyrone is the father of another Part-Member family who we haven’t met yet but has a baptismal date for a couple weeks out. And Jalessa we met yesterday. She’s ready for baptism we just have to help her understand the importance of the Sabbath day and church attendance before she commits to a date. 

Going to some people that you’ve heard about before, Trish and Sunny are still there. We had them on date for the end of this month but as time keeps going by it seems as if they aren’t quite understanding everything and are more ‘curious’ than anything. We are just hoping and praying that they are lead and pointed somehow in the right direction because after all is said and done the Lord is going to have to witness to them, somehow, that this is the True Church. 

Trey Washington is a great kid, and I don’t know if I’ve mentioned him or not. But, when we first met him he was completely against coming out and talking to us and now all the sudden he has had a turn of heart. We’ve been over a few other times to teach him about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and he is soaking it all in. He was going to come to church yesterday but he had had a late night the night before. He has been in the process of changing his life around though and it’s been really cool to see him open up so much.

Speaking of opening up: Shannon! From when we first met her to now she has completely opened up to the gospel and all of it. She had gone to Conference and felt the spirit the whole next week, and now is ready and moving quickly to her baptismal date on May 20th. This week was especially cool though. We went to introduce them to Elder Schrubb and we talked about her baptism and how they need to come to church. We were sitting there trying to work through how they could get a schedule change and such but nothing was really working. We promised them that if they figured out how to come to church on Sundays that the Lord would bless them. Shannon spoke up after that and said that she was going to quit working Sundays even though they really needed the money and the hours. We told them we would help them in anyway they needed and said a prayer, in which I asked for the Lord to bless them in their efforts and desires to come to church. THAT DAY they went into work and found that a new schedule was being written up which would allow them to come to church three out of the four Sundays! It was a sweet experience for Elder Schrubb and I let alone for Shannon and Joe. They are amazing and the Lord is looking out for them! 

A couple other short cool stories: We were in an apartment complex and I asked Elder Schrubb, after the follow-ups we had to make fell through, and he walked up to this building and then a door and we knocked and found a new investigator in doing so! Earlier that day I told him that we should try to find a new investigator and low and behold, Kendra answered her door. We also talked to this awesome lady who’s name I can’t remember in Wal-Mart. She had her two kids with her (7 and 5) and I entertained them while Elder Schrubb taught her and answered her questions. The kids thought I was magic (thanks Dad for all those coin tricks). And shot out to Lindsey in Florence who finally admitted that I am her favorite Missionary :)

• Joe and Shannon are trying to set me up with their niece who lives in AZ. 
• We sat and talked to this guy, Jay, for an hour about sex.
• We got rejected the hardest I’ve ever been at a door where a girl told us we woke up her baby (she was already crying when we knocked) and said to “Get the F out!” *slam*
• Elder Schrubb fell asleep on someone’s couch for a few minutes when we were sitting talking to them.
• Elder Schrubb showed me a picture of his family, I will attach it.

Well I love y’all and I hope everything's going good at home! The Lord is still hastening his work and I’m glad to be a part of it in Alabama at this time. Especially because it’s Easter and this week we celebrate the week of our Savior leading up to his Resurrection. I love this gospel and I’m so glad to share the Prince of Peace. Make it a good week! 

Much Love,

Elder Milius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=Ly9xk59Qkfc

PS: Go share this video on mormon.org  ^^^^

-- 

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

 Elder Schrubb's Family (from left to right): Mom, Dad, Lorenzo, Elder Schurbb, then Ethan 

 All my ties

 Elder Milius and Elder Harris

 Elder Milius and Sister Haderlie

 Elder Morley and Elder Milius

 Elder Shrubb and Elder Milius

 Elder Milius's Zone

3 April 2017 - Elder Milius Week 40

Hey y’all! 

I’m STAYING in Weeetumpka! Transfer calls brought sad news though as I will be losing my son, Elder Kaden Harris. He is headed to Fulton, Mississippi but Elder Schrubb will be my companion starting Wednesday and he is a great Missionary as well. He came out with me and we’re bound to do good things. Also, the Wetumpka Sisters are both being taken out without replacements. Elder Schrubb and I have our work cut out for us but let me tell you Wetumpka is about to get wet! 

So, starting out with Conference-what an amazing weekend! I love General Conference and every time I am reminded that God has called a Prophet and that his name is Thomas S. Monson. I hope all y’all were able to listen or watch it this past weekend but if you haven’t that is the glory of modern technology; it’s on lds.org :) I would suggest watching David A. Bednar’s talk from Priesthood Session and Elder Joaquin E. Costa’s talk from the second session on Sunday. They were my two favorites.

Also, speaking of Conference Shannon is doing great. Her and Joe were able to come to the second session on Saturday afternoon. We weren’t there, but John Ellis-a youth and their home teacher-was there and he told us that right before the session started Shannon opened up big time and told him about some things that she was having to go through and then most of that entire session was about how to have peace and joy in times of trouble and how we can “overcome the world.” It was great, and definitely considered a miracle to me! All of those that speak are inspired and when they speak is inspired as well, I know that to be true. But she is doing a lot better and they both loved going to Conference and Shannon is recognizing the Spirit and how it’s helped her the past couple days since going so hopefully that can translate to them coming to church and then to the 20th of May!!

Trish and Sunny weren’t able to make it but we are hoping to see them later today. Last Monday we had an awesome lesson with them where we showed the Restoration video and they loved it. I swear they just need to come to church to get an answer to their prayers! They are so close. 

This week was a good week and they are only looking to get better. I feel like I say that in every email but it’s true! Life just keeps getting better and better! I do want to share another story that had an impact on me this past week. We were looking for someone to come out with us to teach Renee on Friday. And we decided to text a returning member, Heather. (She is Trish and Sunny’s daughter). We asked what her plans were for Friday at 10:30 and she said she might not be home from something but asked what we needed. After we told her that we wanted her to come teach with us this was her response: 

“REALLY:-) WHERE AND OF COURSE I LOVE YOU GUYS! You make me feel so proud to be mormon”

What an amazing response. And it’s something that will stick with me for I hope the rest of my life.

It’s a short one this week, but I hope all of you are doing good wherever you might be! Know that the work is moving forward in Alabama and that the Church is still true! Love y’all! 

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

 Elder Milius enjoying General Conference on Saturday with his companion 

Elder Harris and the Sister Missionaries at the home of The Decker Family