Week 18 - Caraz

We were able to Skype Elder Miller on Christmas Day for 1 hour, it was wonderful to see his face and talk to him!  

Here is a little summary from him.

From Elder Miller:

My first Christmas in the mission was great! Different than at home, but it was good. Like I said in Skype it is always so fun to be with a bunch of missionaries. We basically spent all week with missionaries and members. It was great. We had a Christmas party in the church and Elder Sanchez and I did a few skits on the spot with a few members and they were pretty funny. We ate super good this whole week. Lots of apple pie on Christmas and basically an American Thanksgiving dinner.

My companion gets transferred today to go be a Zone Leader so that is awesome for him. He has helped me so much. I have learned a ton and really learned to appreciate my time in the mission with him. I'm very happy that I get to stay in Caraz for one more transfer for sure. I'm excited to start working with my new companion here in Caraz. We have a party in the church this week for the new year so that should be very fun hopefully we can help some investigators and less actives come and enjoy the time with us too. 

That's basically my summary for the week. So you can share it with whoever haha thanks mom!

Thanks so much for all of your support and all you do for me mom. It was so fun to Skype. It looks like you all had a great Christmas! Have a great week this week and a very fun new year. Here we come 2016! I love you and miss you tons! Be safe!

Christmas Dinner with Companion (Elder Sanchez)

Dinner with Hermana Flor Tacos

District at Christmas time, I think they performed at a Christmas Concert 

(hence the matching bow-ties)

Week 17 - Caraz

Here is Elder Miller's weekly update and pictures too!  We love pictures.  We get to Skype him on Christmas Morning, so we are anxious for Friday.  Merry Christmas everyone.!

Here is what Elder Miller wrote:

This week was great. I really realized the blessings of working with members. We are currently working on teaching all of the families in ward council the lessons to refresh their minds and strengthen them. In our lessons with them this week we found a few new investigators waiting for us when we arrived to their houses, so that was a great surprise. We also found a new family in a little town called Yura Coto(kind of a cool name) that wants to learn more and wants to have us come visit them so that was great as well. I love working with families. 

This week we had interviews and a Christmas devotional with President Rios and his family. Which were so great. They are so inspired. Hermana Rios told me something that really motivated me. She said that if you give all you've got and are obedient in your mission right now then you will receive tons of blessings in your mission after your mission or in other words your life after your mission. I passed both interviews by the way hahaha President Rios really helped me to understand how to have more confidence in myself and he always teaches with examples which i love. He compared the mission to driving a car. When we first learn how we are nervous, but after experience we become more comfortable and confident.

Yesterday we went to Yungay in the afternoon and taught a family and after we went to her orchard above her house and she gave us a bunch of fresh apples and lemons. They are soooo good! The people here are so generous. 

I have really enjoyed learning more about Christmas and helping others to do so too. I am so grateful for this time of year and that i am at least able to see the snow this Christmas. I am realizing that i took a lot for granted at home especially at Christmas time. Nothing will ever beat a Montana Christmas with my family thats for sure. I will definitely have a good time here though its so fun to be with a bunch of missionaries. For Christmas here they eat a ton of Paneton which is basically sweet bread with sweet little fruit bites in it. Its actually super good. A lot of people have lights and fake trees up so a lot of their traditions are very similar. 

This opportunity that i have been given is so amazing. I am learning so much and I hope to be making my Heavenly Father, my mission president, and my family proud! 

Helado in my new tie this morning.  Feliz Navidad!

Yes, mom those of inca cola and coca cola are glass!

Christmas Party with Mission & President & Sister Rios' family

Elder Miller & Companion with President & Sister Rios & one daughter

Week 16 - Caraz

Here is Elder Miller's weekly update:  He received his Christmas Package.  Thank you for all of you that took the time to write & send something!

From Elder Miller:

This week was so great we have been preparing as a zone for christmas. We are singing for Presidente and Hermana Rios this weekend so we have been practicing some singing haha its been fun to listen to its not my favorite thing to do but i love listening to it. Im very excited for my first Christmas in the field. It wont be anything like a good ol Christmas in Montana with my family and the snow, but it will be fun. We are going to eat and spend the day together as a zone in Huaraz which will be very awesome. 

This week we traveled to Chimbote(a town on the coast) for my reunion of 10 weeks with all the people who started the same time that i did in the field. It was really fun and really nice to know that we all had similar struggles our first few weeks and as President Rios says ´its normal.' I really like the assistents too. One of them Elder Weber was our Zone Leader last change and he is so awesome. I got to spend a day proselyting with him last change and that was a great experience. He has helped me a lot. 

This week we didnt get to spend a lot of time proselyting, but we did get a few people called as ward missionaries so it will be super fun to work with them too. We had one lesson with one of them with us this week and we watched a movie about the restoration with our investigator. It went really well. The purpose was to show him why the restoration was necessary and the movie got the point across very well. 

One of my favorite studies this week was in Ether chapter 12. I love this chapter. It really made me think of my experience as a missionary so far. For Ether it was really hard to preach to the people and he was a PROPHET! and he asked why is this so hard and was very discouraged at times, but I love verse 27 and the rest of the chapter after that. In this work I have realized there is so many things im not good at, but if I continue to have faith Heavenly Father will make these things become stronger for me. I really am so grateful for this opportunity that i have to be a missionary and to improve and prepare every single day for my future! Its pretty sweet :)

Week 15 - Caraz

Here is a little summary from Elder Miller. 
He kept it short so he could send more pictures. 
Enjoy his summer and enjoy the pictures.  What a beautiful place he get to serve in. 

We  had a great week this week. I truly love being a missionary. It is so challenging and at times discouraging but I have learned so much and am becoming much stronger. I am learning that part of serving is facing your fears. Elder Uceda told us if your afraid of knocking on a door for instance you go right up and knock on that door. If your scared to invite someone to pray invite them to pray. I really like his concept of facing your fears. This week we have been working with a few references and we had a cool experience in a lesson with one of our references from our mission leader. We asked the investigator if he had seen a change in his friend(the mission leader) and his answer was a certain yes and it was so cool. The power of an example is so real. The last thing I want to talk about is the devotional last night. Wow that was so amazing. Every single moment was a powerful spiritual experience. President Uchtdorfs talk was the best talk I have ever heard in my life I think haha I am going to print it off today actually. This is such a great experience. I love being a missionary and all of the opportunities this service offers me to learn and grow every single day. My favorite study this week was about the scripture D&C 50:14. I pretty much dissected it for 40 minutes. It was great. The very first thing i learned in the process is how important the role of a mother and father is in teaching their kids the gospel. It was actually a commandment given to Adam and Eve. The first parents on the Earth. I'm so grateful for the family that I have and that we have been able to learn and grow in the gospel together.

Look at that plow.  Elder Miller is loving seeing all the agriculture in Peru.

Potatoes! Check out that hat.  (he referred to it at his Indiana Jones hat).  ;-)

Mountains 

 

Elder Miller & Companion

Elder Miller & his companion.

'

Elder Miller posing

Elder Miller & Zone Leader

He thought it was sooo funny, they were so wet their ties stuck to their faces.  :-)

Elder Miller & Comp at Trujillo Temple

Selfie in front of tree at Mall.  (He knows I love trees). 

Week Fourteen - Caraz

Here is Elder Miller's weekly update:

From Elder Miller -

This week was just as much as an adventure as the last wow! I stayed in our apartment exactly two times this week, on a bus to Trujillo two nights, with the zone leaders two nights, and in Carhuaz one night! It was a fun filled week with lots of traveling.

We went to Trujillo on Tuesday night to listen to Elder Uceda of the 70 and his wife along with President and Sister Rios during the day Wednesday. It was very cool. He is so powerful. He taught us about how we can better study the scriptures and about how we can better study to prepare for investigators. I learned a lot and we got to eat papa johns pizza after. That was definitely a treat. Then later in the night we went to the temple as a Zone and that was so so so amazing. The new temple in Trujillo is beautiful. Then we went to the mall to kill time and eat dinner before our bus left that night. It was such a fun day.

When we got back to our áreas on Thursday morning we got to sleep a Little bit then we went proselyting. It has been an interesting week with proselyting with trying to find the people, but I

guess that's the nature of the work. We did have some major success with our missionary night this week, however. We had a big fire with marshmallows and hot chocolate. There were a lot of people at it so that was really awesome to see.

On Saturday in the afternoon we went to Huaraz with our Ward council to meet with Elder Uceda again which was such a cool experience. It was a conference for all of the Ward councils in our stake and he brought up the Ward council from Caraz to be an example so that was super cool. He showed how by just activating one family you could potentially be activating their entire family in the  future like their kids and their grandkids and on and on. Then later that night we went to Chinese food with the zone leaders and that was delicious. Chinese food here is basically rice with chicken and eggs and soy sauce. Its a nice treat!

I have learned a lot this week. My favorite thing is that in order to study the scriptures like an apostle you need to do two things; study them profoundly and consistently. I know this church is true and that this work is so very important. I am so grateful for the love of our savior and his atonement in my life because I'm nowhere near perfect.

Week Thirteen - Caraz

Here is Elder Miller's latest e-mail/letter.  He sounds wonderful. 

Elder Miller writes:

This week was amazing. It was a Little bit frustrating at times with the work, but im learning patience and strengthening my faith. I received a package this week with stuff from my mom and from the school. Thank you so much!!!! I feel so blessed and I wish I could show my thanks better than in an email. I also received the card from our ward mission night. Thank you to everyone who wrote to me. Deer Lodge Ward is the best!!! I don’t really feel like I deserve all of this love and I wish I could say thanks in a better way, but know that I feel so blessed and that it means a lot to me.

This week was a little different in the missionary work. Two of our investigators that were progressing moved away to different towns so that was a little tough, but some very great things happened this week too. One of them was that we were finally able to contact a family that is part members that are inactive. I have hope!!

This Friday we went with the bishop to Santa Cruz(a city in the mountains) to give a family permission to administer and partake of the sacrament in their home when they aren`t able to come to Caraz for Church. It was the coolest experience and its so cool how the Lord always provides a way for everyone to keep his commandments. I finally got some pictures there of people plowing with their cows and I also got a picture of the members horse all saddled up when he rode out with us as we walked back to the car. I got to eat Cuy for lunch with them. They fried up the whole thing. The guts and everything. It was pretty good actually! I got pictures of the lady gutting them in the creek. I also got to help them pull up some potato plants in their field to send some potatoes with us. It was like a dream day for Elder Miller.

Today as a zone we hiked to a laguna up in the mountains. It was so amazing. We were at almost 20,000 feet of elevation. I have some great pictures from the whole experience.(by the way I have a bunch of pictures but I need to buy an adapter but I can only send them on some computers I will send them to my parents one of the weeks) The mountains are so amazing here.

I am definitely feeling sooooo blessed this week. WOW! Heavenly Father knows his children so well. My first area in the field is in the mountains with agriculture everywhere. I am loving life. The mission is such a learning process and its really hard at times, but it is all worth it. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve my Father in Heaven and I am so grateful for all of the support he has placed in my life. Wow!

Week Twelve - Caraz

Here is the latest e-mail from Elder Miller.

 

Elder Miller writes:

This week was a great week! I have officially completed one transfer in the field as of yesterday. I definitely learned a lot my first transfer and look forward to learning lots more this transfer. I have the same companion for this transfer because you are always with your trainers for two transfers so that is awesome. Elder Sánchez is really fun and a great teacher.

This week we have been working with a few different investigators. Two of them are references from our awesome Ward misión leader. He has been such a great help to us. Working with the members to find and teach the investigators is so much easier. Wow! The members here are great. One day this week we had one member drive us to yura coto for a few people there and we had one lesson with an old investigator that was great. She is very receptive and really trying to learn. Which as a missionary is a dream come true! When the investigators actually pray and read the book of mormon and the pamphlets It is so awesome. You can really see their growth as they study and ponder.

Wow the misión is such a learning process. Between learning more about the góspel and the scriptures combined with learning the language its kind of overwhelming at times, but Im learning and growing so that is good. Some days i have tojust laugh at myself and realice that im going to make some mistakes. I love to look back and see the progress that I have made though. This Sunday we went to Yungay for their sacrament meeting there in a house with about 20 to 30 people and it was a great experience as always. The people there are so nice and always have a special spirit about them. I gave a talk about building your life and family on the rock of the Lord.(like the wise man) It went great! My whole talk was in point form too. The gift of tongues is such a blessing.

I know this is the work of the lord and that there are people being prepared right now to receive it as it says in Moroni 7. It is such a blessing to be in such a beatiful place and with great people. I have definitely felt the love of the Lord in my life throughout this experience so far.

Week Eleven - Caraz

Here is the latest e-mail from Elder Miller.  He sounds wonderful. 

 

From Elder Miller;

Wow this was an awesome week! President Rios came and visited our whole zone and we got to study and plan with the assitents. It was a great experience. The work is moving forward here in Caraz which is such a delight to see!

The members here are so amazing. We have a new Ward misión leader who is amazing. He gave us 20 references to his friends this week! He is very Young and he is a return missionary. He actually knows some people from Helena from his misión which is very cool.

President Rios came and checked out our room this week to make sure we are keeping the place in good condition and dont worry…he approved! We then went and visited a member with him here that is having a Little bit of trouble with her teenagers. He gave such a great lesson! He said teenagers are like mercury in the palm of your hand. If you squeeze too hard it escapes, so you need to almost balance it in the palm of your hand. You cant let it totally run free, but you cant totally restrict it. It was such a great lesson that ill definitely remember. He is such an inspiration!

This week we had one of our less actives attend church that we have been working with. It made me so happy to see him in church. He was participating and everything! He is a very Smart kid the same age as me so it is fun to see him be a great example for his family.

We have been teaching some new investigators this week and its very interesting to see what people think they know about mormons. I love how the góspel is so simple. Every question or opposition can be answered with simple plain precious truths of the góspel.

We have really been focusing on helping everyone understand the sabath day because that is the big focus right now here. We have really been tying it to the Savior and as ive learned more about the Savior my love for him and understanding of his atonement has greatly increased! I love this góspel and the opportunity I have to share it. Heavenly Fathers loves us so much and I am so grateful for that.

Week Ten - Caraz

Helo everyone from Caraz! This week was another great week here! The rainy season is getting ready to start so we got a Little taste of that this week as well as some super nice sunny weather. It is so beautiful here. The work is moving forward here. Some days slower than others, but it is moving forward!

This week I got to see some very cool things! First of all the rainstorm was super strong holy moly! Elder Sanchez and I got soaked. We had an opportunity for service in the rain however which was a blessing! An older man was pushing a cart up to his home with two of his smaller grandchildren I am guessing and we happened to pass them and were able to help them pus hit the rest of the way to their home. All the while we were laughing because we were completely soaked from head to toe! When we returned to our apartment our ties were so wet that we could stick them to our faces. I also saw some farming in action here this week in our travels which was very cool. There was a horse and buggy out in the middle of a field and the people were piling corn plants on it. As well as people working up the dirt in their fields using a single plow with two cows.

We had the opportunity to spend almost all of yesterday with the members which was awesome. They have  a really strong core group of members here the thing is we just need to add a lot more people to it. The members are so generous, nice, fun and have such strong testimonies. Yesterday in the morning we went to Yungay for the church meetings there. Their was about 30 members present. The spirit was very very strong! They meet in what is called a ¨ family group¨ they meet for two hours every Sunday for sacrament and Sunday school. The second counselor from the branch here presides over their meetings. He is so amazing! We got to work with him a Little bit this week. He is so happy and up beat I love it.

As far as investigators go we are on the search for more as always! It is a fun adventure. We have a few that are progressing a Little bit which is so cool to see. Teaching the lessons is getting easier for me as my spanish gradually  improves which is such a blessing! I love being a missionary! I have really been thinking a lot more about what makes our church special lately and one thing that  keeps comin to mind is something that Joseph Smith`s father said in the Joseph Smith movie ¨many churches teach men to fear God too much and love him too little¨ Im not sure if thats exactly correct but you get the idea. I love that! We should Love him and his perfect plan for each and every one of us.

Week Nine - Caraz

Here is Elder Miller's weekly/email summary.  I asked him some questions this time and have included those answers in the summary.

From Elder Miller

Your questions:

1. we go to church and every other Sunday we give talks in church then we proselyte for the rest of the day.

2.Yes we are! we teach less actives, recent converts, the members, and investigators of course. We teach a lot of restoration lessons and we have taught a few lessons on stories from 1 Nephi. like the Liahona and what are the Liahonas in our lives. I really love teaching about that.

3.We did one service Project last week. We helped dig a trench in the middle of a persons home to put a pipe in so the wáter could drain better. That was interesting haha

4.Highlight of this week was probably FHE last Monday with the members. I love teaching families.

5.We study in the morning and proselyte the rest of the day with a few meals here and their at our pensionista. On Tuesdays we always travel to Huaraz for a District reunión.

Summary!

Helo everyone once again! I write to you this week from Huaraz. We are here for our PDay with our whole Zone! It should be a bacan day! Bacan is one of my new favorite words. It means like awesome in spanish and it sounds like rock on so its a pretty sweet Word. This week was better once again. Im really starting to have more fun with the tasks of the misión life and enjoying it a Little more every week.

This week was another great week. We are kind of struggling to help some of our investigators progress which is frustrating because it is hard to get in contact with them, but the good news is we have many more weeks to keep pushing forward. The members have been so great. Every Monday night we have a family home evening usually with a member family and an investigator. They are so fun. I have really grown to love FHE. I am also able to contribute more because my spánish is slowly but surely getting better. Which is quite the process, but It is coming and I'm excited to be able to talk to more people.

My companion has been such a great help to me. This week he really helped me to make my personal studies more effective by studying with a question. It is helped me quite a bit. It is crazy how PMG has everything we need to succeed as missionaries in it, we just need to use it and apply what we learn. I have also started using a study journal as well which is probably one of my new favorite things to use when I study.

Yesterday we packed 22 members into a van and drove to Huaraz for a special regional conference for the people of Peru. The messages were about attending the Temple and living the Góspel. The misión is definitely an adventure! I'm really starting to love it though.

Week 8 - Caraz

Elder Miller wanted me to tell everyone thank you for the e-mails, the prayers and for thinking of him.  He won't be able to write you all back but is truly grateful for your e-mails!  Thank you from the bottom of this Mom's heart too!  <3 

 

This is Elder Miller's weekly summary:

This week was a much better week! Thank you for everything everyone! I probably wont have time to write everyone back but i am so grateful for all of your prayers and emails! I have learned over the past week something I already knew but I needed to apply into my own life. I learned this from my parents and I remember a few other people repeating the same thing. The only thing that you can control is your attitude and effort every day. I have learned that every day I need to wake up and be happy, positive, and have faith. Its not always easy, but It is helping me out so much. The other missionaries have helped  me out as well. They have very good advice and they tell me that it keeps getting better so that is good! Through lots of prayers and Reading the words of my parents in their letters I have gotten a lot better over the past week.

I am in Caraz. It is so so beautiful here the mountains are amazing. 15 minutes away in Yungay is the mountain that paramount pictures uses at the beginning of their movies. It is kind of a tourist town so i do see some americans sometimes. There is agriculture all around which is definitely a plus. It is much different than the ranches of  montana but it will tide me over for now! Its definitely fun to see.

The food here in Peru outside of the CCM is enteresting sometimes,but they also have some very good food as well. Ill start with the interesting…This week there was a chicken foot in my soup. No i did not eat it and yes it was there on purpose. On the bright side however, there is two heladerías. Ill let you sound that one out and figure out what it means. Their ice cream is amazing!

The missionary work here is not easy, but it is getting better. Spanish is still coming some days better than others, but I just need to keep at it and it will come I know it. The members here are so awesome with helping and supporting us. Our missión leader is awesome as well. They have high goals for us to accomplish. Which is awesome. This past week we recieved a reference from a man who didnt really want to hear our message and this reference is awesome. We talked about families at first, then at the end he said ¨so I think you were sent here tonight because Heavenly Father thinks I am ready for this message¨ that just goes to show that he is preparing people everywhere. My companion and I were so  happy after that! Lessons are so fun! I love them. I am grateful for this message of happiness!

Pictures ONLY

I found the BLOG for Elder Miller's Mission and guess what they had a bunch of pictures of Elder Miller on there.  So be prepared or fair warning picture overload!
Here is the missions BLOG:  http://misiontrujillosur.blogspot.com/

Arriving at Mission Home

All the new missionaries

Elder Miller in front of Trujillo Temple

All Elders in front of Trujillo Temple

Getting off a bus?  :-)

Getting ready to eat?

Breakfast?

Lessons

I love this face.

eating

More lessons

Elder Miller and his companion?

Leaving Mission home for his first area.

Week 7 - First Area (Caraz)

Here is the e-mail I received this week from Elder Miller, he didn't include a summary but I'm going to post the e-mail he sent to me.  Remember the up and downs we have only make us stronger.  This is his first week in his area (no more training center).  Sounds very interesting.  It sounds like he has a nice place to live and someone to cook for him?  What?!  If you get a chance, shoot him an e-mail.  Remember to stay positive and keep it brief.  He may not have time to respond but I'm sure he would love some "mail" from family & friends alike.

From Elder Miller
Hey mom thanks for the email! Happy birthday to the best Mom ever!!!! I swear I didn't forget about it. I was telling my district at the CCM that I forgot to mention it in my email and they were laughing at me. I had to part ways with Elder Klein. He is in the Lima North mission. This mission is really cool. My first area is Caraz. It has tons of agriculture and mountains which is awesome. It has been a much different week. My new companion is from Paraguay. He is awesome and he speaks pretty good English which is such a blessing. The members here are super awesome. There's not more than 50 at church I don't think but its ok. hopefully we can change that. President and Sister Rios are so awesome! Sister Rios makes sure that we are taken care of with a good apartment and everything which is nice. The first day we got to go to the mission home and have an awesome meal there. It was soooo good. Out here in the field has been much harder than I expected, however. I am super homesick. I really miss you and dad and Emmy and Montana and the rest of the family. I know that I can do this, but at first its going to be really hard. Thank you for your strong example and testimony mom. You are the best mom ever. You are the one of the ladies that Jeffrey R. Holland talked about in conference. I love you tons! I might need some tough love these next few weeks with some prayers too please. I am so proud of everything that you are doing and have done. I hope you had tons of fun in Canada. I'm jealous of the Thanksgiving food! We have a pensionista who cooks every meal for us which is super nice. She is trained on what to feed us so that we don't get sick. The food is alright out here. We have taught a few lessons and I contribute where I can because my Spanish is restricting, but my companion is very good at helping me. Be safe please mom. Thank you for all that you do! Thanks especially for taking care of my animals while i am gone. I got one of the letters that you and dad sent me when I got to Trujillo so that was an awesome surprise. I will do a summary next week. If you want you can make a summary of what I have written this week for the blog. Sorry for not doing a summary.

I love you to the moon stars and back again forever!

Must be his new area. How cool is that?

Tenny in front of the Trujillo temple. 

Not sure what happened to the pic, it only shows half of him.  :-)

 

 

From Google: 

 

Caraz is a town in the Caraz District in the southeastern part of Huaylas Province of the Ancash Region in Peru. Recent investigations propose that its political creation was dated on 12 February 1821, when Grl. San Martín, while staying in Huaura founded 4 Departments, including Huaylas as one of them, with its capital, the city of Caraz. Later on 1857, it was split in two, giving birth to the new young Province of Huaraz. The District of Caraz was created by the Administration of Liberation of Don Simón Bolivar, legitimized by law on December 29, 1857, and sanctioned a year later. The city of Caraz became the capital of the Province of Huaylas on July 25, 1857. .

 

Week 6 - Leaving CCM & onto Trujillo

This is what I got from Elder Miller this week.  He left the CCM (MTC) today and flew to Trujillo.  He will officially begin serving in his area now.  I cannot wait to hear all about the adventures, trials and tribulations that are yet to come.  So proud of this boy of mine.  Here is his simple (all I needed to hear) message for the week.

From Elder Miller,
Hey mom I am in Trujillo safe and sound. This city is so beautiful! I am so excited to see the rest of my mission! I only get two minutes so ill talk to you next pday. Have a great week. Forward this to dad please.

Week 5 - MTC

Here is Elder Miller's weekly e-mail from the CCM in Lima Peru.  This will be his last week at the CCM.  WE may not here from him for a couple of weeks.  That might just about kill me but I know he'll be OK and that he'll e-mail as soon as he can.  Don't forget you can e-mail him too.  Check his address and e-mail on the right hand side of the blog.
Next time we hear from Elder Miller he will be in the field somewhere in the South Trujillo Peru Mission. 

My final week in the CCM here in Lima. I fly out to Trujillo next Monday! I definitely don't know Spanish yet but I'm well on my way! I have really enjoyed this past month here at the CCM and I will miss my district and teachers so much, but I am so excited to get out to the people that are prepared for this message.

This past week was not near as exciting as the previous one, but it was great nonetheless. It was fast and testimony Sunday and all four of the Elders from my district got up to bare their testimonies in Spanish.(sacrament is always in Spanish) It was so cool, we all four walked up at the same time. I felt like we were like leading the charge. We have grown so much here, especially with our Spanish it was so cool. The CCM(MTC) is an amazing place.

My teachers here have such strong testimonies. I have talked about them quite a lot lately, but they have had such a great impact on me. I have grown to love them and really appreciate them. They give us pep talks sometimes and their words are so inspired. One of my teachers this past week told me ¨Usted es Bueno¨ that means you are good. Pretty simple, but that simple phrase made my whole day.

Watching Elder Scott´s funeral on Monday was quite the experience as well. Hearing the testimonies from the other apostles and the prophet were so powerful. Wow! I definitely admire them and the work that they do. I especially admire the example that Elder Scott was in enduring through tough times. That hit me hard. I want to be like him. Positive. Faithful. Valiant. Happy.

Hurray for conference this weekend. I feel so blessed to get a pep talk from the prophet and apostles this weekend just a few days before I head to my area. I love this gospel so much. Heavenly father loves us so much and he is sooo merciful. I'm so excited to share this HAPPY message with others.

Like I said I am heading out to my area next week so this will be my last email for almost two weeks so don't worry if you don't get one for a while it is coming!

Elder Miller, his companion (Elder Klein), and some of the other

missionaries at the Lima Peru Temple.  What a beautiful place! 

 

Week 4 - MTC

I can't believe that Elder Miller has been out 4 weeks?!  Wow, this past month has really flown by.  Enjoy his weekly summary. 

 

Here's my summary...enjoy!

¨Wow¨ it has been another great week here at the CCM. I love being a missionary so much! My companion says I say ¨wow¨ a lot so I guess thats a good thing! Peru is an amazing place and I feel so priveleged to be here with the Elders I am with and to be led by the leaders that have been called to lead us.

On Sunday our Branch President gave a talk about how repenting is a life long process and that was awesome. I really like the Branch Presidency here. The first councilor is awesome. He is so straight forward and to the point. I really like that about him. You dont have to read his mind or guess anything.

My highlight of this past week was definitely proselyting on saturday. I learned so much. It was amazing ¨wow¨! If you have seen any of the pictures that i have sent I want to let you know that what you have seen is the nice part of Lima. I have realized that where we are at here in Lima is very nice and come to appreciate it more. Here´s why...We went proselyting in Lima East. We arrived on busses and went into the church building to get paired up with a missionary from that area and a member to go out proselyting for the afternoon. When we stepped out the door I was a little bit nervous, but excited for the day. I want you to picture this in your minds...dry, rocky and sandy hills with little to no vegetation growing on them with shacks on all of them about half way up the hill...my immediate reaction upon seeing this was that I wanted to go up there. I got my wish! It was such a humbling and amazing experience. All but one of the roads was dirt, there was dogs and chicks running around everywhere, and people working in and outside of their houses. I honeslty couldn´t believe my eyes. I didn´t know there was a place on earth like that. These people were living in less than desireable conditions, but were happy. Their houses were small, I would guess most didn´t have mattresses for beds and most didnt have cars or any form of transportation. Some shacks didn´t have roofs. It was quite the sight. The people, however, were the most amazing part. They were so patient with my companion, Elder Klein, and I. They waited for us to think of the words to say as we are not the best at spanish and listen attentively to the words we said. They were so nice. We gave a lesson and contacted many people out in the streets. It was a great experience. The thing that amazed me the most was how the people, even though they lived in rough conditions, kept pressing forward with whatever they were doing. Not one person I saw that day looked like they were about to give up on anything. I came back to the CCM that night with dusty shoes, dusty clothes and a whole lot of motivation to do the best I can to help these people on my mission.

Classes have been going great as well. Some days are better than others, but thats life. Our teachers are so amazing and they have had some really fun lessons lately for us. Elder Klein and I have been improving with our lessons still. Which is definitely nice to see. All is well here in Peru.

I know that God lives and that we are his children. I kow that he knows us on an individual level and cares about each and every one of us so much. And for that I am grateful!

Elder Miller & Elder Klein (CCM - Lima, Peru)

 

Week 3 - MTC

Here is Elder Miller's Summary of the week. 

This past week has been awesome! We are still learning so much! I have grown to love both of my teachers so much. They are so awesome! I have laughed quite a bit with them actually! They have a lot of good advice for us as well which I'm so grateful for. They really push us to do things over and over and over again so that we really get them down. It is great. We have been busy preparing for our activity this Saturday. We are going proselyting here in lima for practice with the missionaries from that mission. It should be an awesome experience!

Once again...Sundays are my favorite here at the CCM. Our branch presidency is sooo sooooo good. They are amazing. They have the best lessons. I got to talk to one of them about the first vision this week too and that was awesome. We talked about how when we get doubts we go back to the first vision and that sweeps them all away. So thank you Joseph Smith History :) They are so personable and direct. They definitely don't mess around. They tell you how it is and I like that.

My companion is the new district leader! He is awesome! we have really become good friends throughout the weeks. We always are finding something to laugh about! so that definitely makes it fun!

We got to go to the temple again today. Elder Klein and I led a group of 17 Hermanas and that was an adventure! But we all got there and back safely! They rented busses for us this time so that cut down on the adventure of catching a bus!

This past week we have had a few really sunny days which I LOVE! it doesn't happen a lot, but when it does It makes my day 50 times better. One of the hardest parts of being here is the fact that we spend so much time inside. It kills me haha ok maybe it doesn't kill me, but I'm excited for the field because ill get to spend more time outside.

I am loving my time here at the CCM and I am learning a lot! One of my favorite things from this past week is something that Presidente Gonzalez said...be obedient, but its ok to have fun too...That made me feel really good!

I love being a Missionary! Peru is awesome!

Elder Miller & a friend

The MTC (CCM is what they call it here - Spanish for MTC)

View of the City - he said, "The Wise Man Build his House upon a Rock".  :-)

Companion Elder Klein, another Elder & Elder Miller

Another view of the City of Lima