Hermana Miller

I know that subject line is really captivating. But you're going to have to wait to find out what it means.

This week was a great week. I hope everything is going great back at home.

As for exciting news, Joshua got the priesthood this week! So cool! He was ordained to be a teacher (because he is 14), and he seemed very happy about it. In other exciting news for Joshua, he learned how to tie a tie and...he came tracting with us! It was great. I could definitely tell he was nervous, but he has agreed to come with us another time, with the condition that we don't toc so near to his house. Which is understandable. It would be a little awkward to toc in your own neighborhood. The problem is, he can't get in our car, so we just have to find a solution for that. He is doing great though. He comes to church and we are still meeting with him and he still loves the gospel. Yay! It is so great to see how the gospel can really bless the lives of those who accept it.

Carolina is doing great too. She came to church and smiled a lot there. That is a big deal. She is changing, you can see it. Not that she is not a happy person, she just doesn't smile a lot. She has a really hard life. But, we love visiting her and seeing her in church because she is starting to smile more and more. She even laughs at my "jokes" sometimes. Which is also notable... coming from anyone, that is. The Gospel Principles class meets right next to the primary, and at the end of the class, we could hear the primary singing "Follow the Prophet" and there was one kid singing louder than all the rest, and it was Cristian, her son. She laughed at that when she recognized his voice. I love Cristian. He is so cute, and he is really smart too. I love Carolina. I just love everyone. :) She got her own ride to church this week, which is an awesome step, because a lot of people just expect the church to provide transportation, but she took it into her own hands. I'm tellin' you. She is a refreshing investigator. Everything about her is different and new. She is prepared. We talked a little bit more about how her friend is still trying to convince her away from the church and how her friends are printing off anti and giving it too her ("From googles" she said. I liked how it is plural.) to read. She tells us that she made a connection. She already knew the church is true, but she feels like all the opposition she is getting is just confirmation, because she realizes that Christ too had a lot of opposition in his life. People persecuted and rejected him and it was because it was the truth. I just love that she made that connection on her own and that she is learning on her own with out us having to push her along.

We met with Rudy again this week. He was missing for a few weeks because his phone was broken and he was working down in Bocaron, which is really far away...the southwestern corner of the island. But, he randomly called us and we set a cita, and he came. We meet in a member (recent convert:)) home for his citas. He told us that he prayed and feels that Joseph Smith is a prophet, which is definitely a great first step. We are really excited for him. He lives about 3 houses down the street from the member, and we can see that they really like each other. The member (actually, there are two members...they are brothers that have less than a year in the chruch, but they are awesome) and Rudy are growing to be good friends. Which is cool.

In other investigator news, we made an investigator cry this week. It was sad. It wasn't because the lesson was just so spiritual that he couldn't contain himself. It's because he didn't read and we talked to him seriously about how we have to read to grow and he is breaking commitments with God, and how we can't come back until he read. We weren't really mean, we were just firm, and we were really sad and disappointed in him, and he knew we were disappointed. He looked really sad and then I said a prayer, and he was sniffling during the prayer and then as we were going, he just kind of started crying some more. He was trying to hold it in, but couldn't. It was a really sad moment, because we want to help him, but he isn't doing what he needs to do. We are just going to pop in again this week to see how he is, so hopefully his last experience with the Mormons won't be us making him cry. That would be a shame.

Also this week, we made no bake cookies (because we don't have an oven), and they were a big hit! I guess they don't have them here in Puerto Rico. Also, remember those pictures I sent with the Bananas that were growing in our backyard? We picked them this week. The whole bunch! The owner of the house told us to cut off the bunch and that we could keep them. We didn't really want them all, but when a Puerto Rican offers you something, you take it. Well, the huge bunches of bananas that are growing on the trees seriously have 60 bananas at least, so we don't know what to do with them all! We have been giving them to everyone we know; investigators, members, and menos-activos alike. It is kind of fun. Hermana Reid and I like to give things away. I like doing it. Lots of people give us sweet things, like desserts to eat, but we don't want them because we're getting fat! So, we just take it with pleasure from the person ("Thank you so much," we say, "this is a great snack!"), and then promptly pass it on to our next appointment or the next member we meet. It is great, because everybody feels good. The member we take it from feels good giving it, we feel good taking it, we feel good not having to eat it, and we feel good givig it, and the person receiving it feels good too. That is one thing Sister Reid has taught me, is the joy of giving. That is why we made no bakes; to give to people and make them feel good.

I'm so excited for conference! It is only 2 weeks away, and I can't wait! Conference is a little bit like Christmas for missionaries. We wait and wait and wait for the amazing opportunity that we have to listen to the words of a prophet and the apostles. I am still re-reading the Conference report from October because the talks are just that good. I can't wait to hear the things that the Lord has prepared especially for us for right now. Woohoo! I'm excited.

I love you all so much and love hearing from you! I hope you're enjoying school and work, or whatever it is you're all up to.

Love,

Sister Miller