Dear family,
This week was a very exciting week! An exciting announcement, an exciting "first," and some exciting investigator stories.
First of all, as for the subject line, breaking up is hard. And sad. You all know it. It's not fun, and you feel sad and even a little empty afterwards. But, it is even worse when you have something that you know the other person needs, and you even want to give it to them, but they just aren't motivated enough to go and get it.
We had to "break up" with an investigator this week. We've done it before, but he looked so sad when we were talking to him and wouldn't look us in the eyes afterwards. He is the investigator that is really interested in the gospel and has a lot of questions, but he wasn't keeping any of his commitments and just wasn't showing us that he wanted the gospel. So, it was sad because we know we can help him in his life, but if he isn't willing to make an effort, we can only do so much and then he needs to take over and show a little initiative. We said he could call us any time he was ready to read and pray, so I really hope he realizes soon that we want to help him and that we can help him. We'll see.
In other news, the exciting announcement has to do with the Puerto Rico Missions. In June, the two mission presidents and their wives are completing their missions, and there will be changes in the missions of Puerto Rico at this time. They will join into one and there will just be the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission, instead of East and West. It is exciting because now we have the opportunity to see the east of Puerto Rico as well. We are losing Aruba, Bonaire Curacao and Barbados to other missions, but we are keeping the US Virgin Islands. It is all very exciting.
My "first" this week was an exchange! It was really cool. An exchange is when you go and work with another missionary in the mission for a day or two. I worked with Hna. Venegas who is about to go home (mid-february she finishes). It was a very eye-opening experience, because missionary work is completely different when your companion changes. Both she and Hna. Lopez are great missionaries, but they work very differently. I didn't realize that things would change so drastically with a new companion, but they did. It was a cool experience and I really enjoyed it (and learned a lot too).
In Investigator news...Genesis received an answer. She knows that the Book of Mormon is true. It was so exciting! She still hasn't come to church, but we'll see if she can make it next week. We watched The Restauracion video with her this week and she really liked it. We have talked to her mother, but she is never there when we pass by to teach her. But Genesis said that she is interested, so we left the Restauration video for a her mother to watch. We called back a couple days later to confirm another appointment and she told us her mom had watched the movie 3 times. What!?! We were so surprised and excited. She said it was "a beautiful movie and we like to watch it together." She also said she has told her a little bit about our message and the Book of Mormon. I am very excited for them. We have an appointment for later today, so I hope they are there and we can teach the mother and the daughter together. Yay!
Also, we were knocking doors the other day and a woman let us come in and teach her something. She has a 4-year-old son and she said that she wants him to learn about God and Jesus Christ and have them as a part of his life. We left a Book of Mormon and invited her to church, told her about Primary, where her son can learn all about Jesus Christ and his gospel. She couldn't make it to church because (like most of our investigators) she doesn't have transportation, but when we called her on Saturday to remind her about church, she said she has already read in the Book of Mormon and she likes what she read. This is also exciting because, even though every one says they will (because we don't leave a book unless they commit to read it), hardly anyone actually reads it, because they're so busy ... .
As far as our other investigators. Orlando is apparently actually called Rolando (people have really difficult accents here). We went by for a surprise visit on Saturday night to invite them to church, but we didn't go in because they were having what appeared to be a "culto" on their roof. It is when there is like a church meeting thing outside of church or something. I'm not really sure what it is, but he was having people over for religious reasons from another church, so we're thinkin' he's a no. We're going to stop by again, of course, to talk to them, but seeing as they weren't answering their phone, and then we see this, I'm thinking they are finding quench for their spiritual thirst elsewhere. This is sad, because we know the gospel is true and can help them, they just aren't willing to read and find out for themselves, nor make the effort to get to church to feel the spirit there.
Have I ever mentioned how beautiful Puerto Rico is? Because it is beautiful. There are a lot of beautiful plants and flowers, and contrary to what you may think, it isn't all sun all the time. There are lots of cloudy and over-cast days (but also a lot of all-sun days too). One thing about the sun here though, is that is strong. The sun just pounds and pounds. It is totally different here than in other locales. It rains every once in a while. It is so beautiful though. There are mountains in the distance, but they aren't the pile-of-dirt mountains like you see in Utah. No. These are beautiful mountains. Not as tall as in Utah, but lush, green mountains. And sometimes you're just driving along, and all-of-a-sudden you get this beautiful vista. It is amazing, but it is so beautiful that a camera just can't capture it. At least not mine. We have tried many times, but we are never satisfied with the results. Puerto Rico, although lacking some important aspects of climate (such as snow and cold) is possibly one of the most beautiful areas I have witnessed. Haha. That is not saying much, considering my extrememly limited world experience, but you know. It is beautiful, is all I'm saying.
And today...we're going to the beach! Woohoo! I'm so excited. One of the members is taking us to the beach in Levittown. She is a recently returned missionary (like 5 or 6 months) and also, a fairly recent convert (like 5 or 6 years). She is really awesome and she is introducing me to my first Puerto Rican beach. I can't wait, because I haven't been to the Ocean since before graduating High School. Yay!
I feel like this letter is quite dis-jointed, but know that I am not...dis-jointed, that is. I am doing great and really enjoying Puerto Rico. I think I am just a little excited for our trip to the Playa. I like the word playa better than the word beach. It just sounds more fun.
I love you!
Hermana Miller
This week was a very exciting week! An exciting announcement, an exciting "first," and some exciting investigator stories.
First of all, as for the subject line, breaking up is hard. And sad. You all know it. It's not fun, and you feel sad and even a little empty afterwards. But, it is even worse when you have something that you know the other person needs, and you even want to give it to them, but they just aren't motivated enough to go and get it.
We had to "break up" with an investigator this week. We've done it before, but he looked so sad when we were talking to him and wouldn't look us in the eyes afterwards. He is the investigator that is really interested in the gospel and has a lot of questions, but he wasn't keeping any of his commitments and just wasn't showing us that he wanted the gospel. So, it was sad because we know we can help him in his life, but if he isn't willing to make an effort, we can only do so much and then he needs to take over and show a little initiative. We said he could call us any time he was ready to read and pray, so I really hope he realizes soon that we want to help him and that we can help him. We'll see.
In other news, the exciting announcement has to do with the Puerto Rico Missions. In June, the two mission presidents and their wives are completing their missions, and there will be changes in the missions of Puerto Rico at this time. They will join into one and there will just be the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission, instead of East and West. It is exciting because now we have the opportunity to see the east of Puerto Rico as well. We are losing Aruba, Bonaire Curacao and Barbados to other missions, but we are keeping the US Virgin Islands. It is all very exciting.
My "first" this week was an exchange! It was really cool. An exchange is when you go and work with another missionary in the mission for a day or two. I worked with Hna. Venegas who is about to go home (mid-february she finishes). It was a very eye-opening experience, because missionary work is completely different when your companion changes. Both she and Hna. Lopez are great missionaries, but they work very differently. I didn't realize that things would change so drastically with a new companion, but they did. It was a cool experience and I really enjoyed it (and learned a lot too).
In Investigator news...Genesis received an answer. She knows that the Book of Mormon is true. It was so exciting! She still hasn't come to church, but we'll see if she can make it next week. We watched The Restauracion video with her this week and she really liked it. We have talked to her mother, but she is never there when we pass by to teach her. But Genesis said that she is interested, so we left the Restauration video for a her mother to watch. We called back a couple days later to confirm another appointment and she told us her mom had watched the movie 3 times. What!?! We were so surprised and excited. She said it was "a beautiful movie and we like to watch it together." She also said she has told her a little bit about our message and the Book of Mormon. I am very excited for them. We have an appointment for later today, so I hope they are there and we can teach the mother and the daughter together. Yay!
Also, we were knocking doors the other day and a woman let us come in and teach her something. She has a 4-year-old son and she said that she wants him to learn about God and Jesus Christ and have them as a part of his life. We left a Book of Mormon and invited her to church, told her about Primary, where her son can learn all about Jesus Christ and his gospel. She couldn't make it to church because (like most of our investigators) she doesn't have transportation, but when we called her on Saturday to remind her about church, she said she has already read in the Book of Mormon and she likes what she read. This is also exciting because, even though every one says they will (because we don't leave a book unless they commit to read it), hardly anyone actually reads it, because they're so busy ... .
As far as our other investigators. Orlando is apparently actually called Rolando (people have really difficult accents here). We went by for a surprise visit on Saturday night to invite them to church, but we didn't go in because they were having what appeared to be a "culto" on their roof. It is when there is like a church meeting thing outside of church or something. I'm not really sure what it is, but he was having people over for religious reasons from another church, so we're thinkin' he's a no. We're going to stop by again, of course, to talk to them, but seeing as they weren't answering their phone, and then we see this, I'm thinking they are finding quench for their spiritual thirst elsewhere. This is sad, because we know the gospel is true and can help them, they just aren't willing to read and find out for themselves, nor make the effort to get to church to feel the spirit there.
Have I ever mentioned how beautiful Puerto Rico is? Because it is beautiful. There are a lot of beautiful plants and flowers, and contrary to what you may think, it isn't all sun all the time. There are lots of cloudy and over-cast days (but also a lot of all-sun days too). One thing about the sun here though, is that is strong. The sun just pounds and pounds. It is totally different here than in other locales. It rains every once in a while. It is so beautiful though. There are mountains in the distance, but they aren't the pile-of-dirt mountains like you see in Utah. No. These are beautiful mountains. Not as tall as in Utah, but lush, green mountains. And sometimes you're just driving along, and all-of-a-sudden you get this beautiful vista. It is amazing, but it is so beautiful that a camera just can't capture it. At least not mine. We have tried many times, but we are never satisfied with the results. Puerto Rico, although lacking some important aspects of climate (such as snow and cold) is possibly one of the most beautiful areas I have witnessed. Haha. That is not saying much, considering my extrememly limited world experience, but you know. It is beautiful, is all I'm saying.
And today...we're going to the beach! Woohoo! I'm so excited. One of the members is taking us to the beach in Levittown. She is a recently returned missionary (like 5 or 6 months) and also, a fairly recent convert (like 5 or 6 years). She is really awesome and she is introducing me to my first Puerto Rican beach. I can't wait, because I haven't been to the Ocean since before graduating High School. Yay!
I feel like this letter is quite dis-jointed, but know that I am not...dis-jointed, that is. I am doing great and really enjoying Puerto Rico. I think I am just a little excited for our trip to the Playa. I like the word playa better than the word beach. It just sounds more fun.
I love you!
Hermana Miller
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