HALLOWEEN!!

Totally poured on us when we didn't have an umbrella. :P

Hello!

Me and Sister Donahoo!!!

All of us together with our pumpkins. :D Sister Ward, me, Sister Van Tassle, and Sister Donahoo. :D

"Mormon"

A GINORMOUS bug flew in the car and we freaked out and I had to push it out with an umbrella! It took like 10 minutes.

Stake Conference and Exchanges!!

Hey Y'all!

This week went by super fast as well and we're starting to get to know the area better. The people here are very accommodating when we tell them we're lost and ask for directions. :) Lovin the south.

We were kind of struggling with miles this week so we decided to walk a bunch. Well, one day we were walking to a neighborhood close by with a couple referrals to contact and the people we passed kept telling us to hurry so we wouldn't get wet in the rain.... but it didn't look too bad and we're not too scared of rain so we kept going. :) We contacted the two referrals and it started to rain harder, but not too bad for us to turn back because it was more like misty rain... so we kept going to contact a potential a couple houses down.... but before we got there it really started to rain so we stopped under a huge tree and it was poooouuuurrrrring down and we're were just like, "Well shoot." 😄 I was laughing a little more than Sister Donahoo was, but guess what happened! Two houses down was a less active part member family (who hadn't come to church in years) and the member had seen us walking and knew that we were going to need help so he grabbed some umbrellas and came over to us while we were under the tree. :) Then his wife (the nonmember) drove us home and we even taught her a kind of lesson on the way there. :) #sacrificebringsmiracles

We also had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders this week! I stayed in Huntington with Sister Harrison. :) I may or may not have made her walk in the rain as well.... maybe I should stop doing that. We found a lot of potentials and got TONS of return appointments. Which makes me VERY happy. :) We should be very busy this week.

And we had Stake Conference. We went with a less active (woot) and the Stake President told everyone about a big initiative he wants to do that will help the stake be a light on a hill. President Salisbury was obviously very excited about that too. :) We could always use a little more light here. :)

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Sister Miller

Sister Copeland Got Baptized!

Haha! So my last area's apartment never had any food and we were always eating bread and rice... (notice the empty cupboards behind them) :P So I asked Sister Willis if she was still having a hard time and she said yes so Sister Donahoo and I bought them a bunch of food and sent it to them. :)

the box was one that was already in the apartment left over from an Elder's girlfriend who has sent him a box with pictures of them together. :) #doubledintoanElder'sapartmentproblems

We are the Shepherds in the Lord's Vineyard!!

Hello!

This week was super busy, I loved it. :) We have been inviting people to learn like crazy and have received TONS of referrals. We have a couple potentials but actually getting in the door is the struggle. We'll get in one way or the other! We are completely unpacked now and have been cleaning a lot. :)

We put three people on date for baptism this week! And of them came to church and totally participated in the classes and even volunteered to help take down the trunk-or-treat later this month. :) It was so funny too because he came to church (I was laughing so hard after) and both of the talks and both of the classes talked about commandments and other doctrine that we have not taught him yet (baptisms for the dead, coffee and tea, missionary work, etc). He was like, "Wait, what?" And we explained a little but told him we would tell him more when we met with him later. :) Oh geez.

We've only gotten lost 4 times this week, so that was nice. :)

I'm loving being back in West Virginia. :) I'm so glad I'll finish my mission here.

This week in our White Christmas Book of Mormon reading we read Jacob 5 about the allegory of the olive tree. The Master of the Vineyard (Christ) took some of the natural branches from the Olive Tree and put them in different places in the vineyard to see if they would grow and bear good fruit. When they came back, they saw that the branches did bring forth good fruit. The servant then asked the Master why He chose those places to put the branches, because they were a very "poor" spot of land. I thought that was very interesting that Christ would choose to put people in a "poor spot" and expect good fruit. The Master replied "Don't counsel me" and explained that He had nourished it and it had brought forth good fruit. And then He pointed out that He had put one branch in the best spot of ground and it had brought forth only half good and half bitter fruit.

It doesn't matter your circumstances, the people around you, or the place where you live. Either way, the Lord will nourish you in the gospel sufficiently for you to bear good fruit. It is your choice whether you do or not. 

This was especially powerful to me because I remember coming out here and looking at the people around this Bible belt and thinking, "how could the gospel possibly flourish here? There are so many things against it. This feels like a poor spot of ground." But it truly doesn't matter where in the world you are serving. The Lord nourishes and digs and prunes his branches. And it CAN thrive and bear good fruit! And it does!

I know that Christ loves the people in every spot of His vineyard and there can be much good fruit no matter where you are. God loves us and knows how to help us. He is the Master of the Vineyard.

Have a wonderful fruitful week!

Sister Miller

Sister Donahoo, me, Sister Kirkby, Sister Stettler, and Overly. :)

Ma baby came in the day ma mamma went out. :)

Greetings From Huntington!!

Greetings from Huntington!

I'm back in West Virginia! I've had so many de ja vous this last week, it's nuts. :) The ward here is so sweet, I love them all to pieces. Most of them are hard of hearing, which made for a very entertaining ward council meeting. :)

My new baby's name is Sister Donahoo. :) She is from Orange County, California. She went to BYU-I for a year before coming out, and is from a really sweet family. Her twin brother is serving in Arkansas right now and she is a sweet heart. She is not shy at all, which I love. :) And she's having fun with the culture shock and jet lag. :) I'm really excited to be with her. :)

Huntington reminds me a lot of my first area, Ripley, so I'm having a lot of de ja vous moments. :) We've had to do a lot of organizing this last week because....it was needed. :) And we've been meeting so many people, I love it here.

Still getting to know the area and we've been talking to the RS President a lot. She's been super involved and I love it. This ward hasn't had Sisters in a long time so there were all of these single women coming up to us in church who were so excited because they could finally feed the missionaries. :)

I know this is the Lord's work and that He has so many plans for this area. I can't wait to see what they are. :)

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,

Sister Miller

Sister Donahoo and me!

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas!!

I know, it's not even Halloween yet, but hear me out.

President Salisbury has started an initiative called "A White Christmas" for the whole mission. It entails reading the Book of Mormon in unity as a mission until December 3rd, reading 8.5 pages a day. Many other things will be added to this as Christmas gets closer, and the overall MAIN goal of the initiative is to have 28 baptisms each month for the next three months. A White Christmas is something special and rare and fun and exciting and something that we will never forget. And it's a theme of baptism-white and temple-white as well. And that's what we want to have for the next three months.

I am so grateful that I don't go home until 4 days after this initiative ends so I can be a part of all of it. :) I am so excited for all of the miracles that will be taking place.

It was really cool to be in the Mission Leadership Council over the past two transfers because I got to be a part of helping it come to life. :) I'm really excited for it.

And now, my Sister Training Leader days are over. I am being transferred to Huntington, WV. But first, I have to pick up my trainee. 🙋I'm gonna have another baby everyone!! We'll have a fun time getting lost and getting to know the area together. :)

We got a new Ward Mission Leader here in Christiansburg and I'm really excited because he has a lot of experience doing it. Sister Willis is so lucky. :) A lot of our investigators are progressing nicely and I am so excited for them to enter the waters of baptism.

I know this is the full church of Jesus Christ and that He guides our work every day. We just have to listen.

He also guides every one of you in your daily lives. He is there, and He loves you. What a glorious plan He has for each of us.

Love,

Sister Miller

Exchange with Peterstown Sisters! 

Reunited with Sister Cutler at MLC for last time. :)

Hello!!

Last Zone Meeting as Sister Training Leader. :)

Sister Van Tassle, Sister Johnson, Sister Gale, Sister Gardner, me, Sister Willis, Sister Mortensen, Sister Berger, Sister Fonua, Sister Christofferson, Sister Shoemig, Sister Rowley.