September 9, 2013

I know where all our food comes from now! We get tons of food from members and it has started stacking up on our table. We got pork chops and steak this week and that was pretty sweet. Apparently Kyson has been praying for me to find plenty of food to eat! (haha) His prayers have been answered and I’m grateful! Thanks Kyson!

We had a zone conference this week. It was all morning and afternoon and president Riggs, the AP's, and the zone leaders spoke. It was really good. We talked a lot about the importance of getting investigators to pray and understand why and how to do it. 1st Nephi 15:3 talks about how some things cannot be understood unless "a man should inquire of the Lord." Investigators won’t be converted unless they pray. We also talked about the importance of asking them "inspired questions". That is when we ask a question that makes them think and give answers that help us understand them more. Lots of times they can answer their own questions by us asking them to explain their thoughts. The more we know investigators, the easier it is to teach them what they need to know.

After Zone Conference, I was shooting hoops with the AP's and President Riggs was getting my companion a temple recommend. After they finished, President Riggs was smack talking me and saying I was scared to play him (haha). I've heard he is pretty good and I’m excited to play him in the future sometime. Also his son just got his mission call to Dallas, Texas Spanish speaking.

I can tell my legs are getting bigger from all the biking because my slacks are feeling tighter around the thighs (haha). Elder Johnson wanted to get an odometer super bad and told his dad to send him one, then he couldn't wait and bought one. Then he got the one from his dad, so I bought it from him for $20. It is pretty sweet. It shows speed, distance, and time. My max speed so far is 35 mph and we go about 10 miles a day. I’m getting pretty good at riding with no hands too. Everyone stares at us when they drive by too. I don’t blame them cause we are pretty good looking (haha). Plus we ride with no hands and wear church clothes while biking in the middle of the day.

We had lots of college age investigators and now they are either gone or super busy, so we have been focusing a lot on finding new investigators and we found 4 news ones this week. I try to think from the other person’s point of view when we are talking to them. It’s uncomfortable for us, but it’s much worse for them. I think about how I would feel if two weird guys came up to me and started questioning me about religion. That helps to make it better for all of us. If we can just help them open up a little bit by talking about sports, family, school at first then it opens them up more to talking about the gospel. Yesterday, after we got out of a lesson, there were a couple of guys looking at the moon through a telescope. We just talked about that with them for a little and it opened them up, so we could share a little with them. They weren't interested in hearing more, but it makes it much easier. The moon was sweet by the way. It was crescent and orange. Venus and Saturn were also right next to it. They let us look at all of them through the telescope and it was pretty amazing. That just reaffirmed my own testimony about the existence of God. Lots of people want evidence, but all they have to do is look around them!

One of the college age investigators we had that was super awesome left for college a couple weeks ago, but last weekend I had a feeling we should go to his house anyway. He answered the door and said he was home because of the long Labor Day weekend. We got an appointment for the next day with him. The next morning we were studying and trying to figure out what we should teach him, but nothing felt right. He is catholic and doesn't believe the apostasy happened and we've talked about it a lot with him. Like it says in Preach My Gospel, any concerns can be resolved through gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. If it is true then obviously the apostasy happened. We prayed to find a good passage to read with him and right away Alma 32 came to my mind. It felt right so we shared Alma 32;26-28 with him. I don’t know how much it helped him, but I felt the spirit so strong in that lesson and I know that what we shared was the right thing to share. We referred him to the missionaries on the George Mason campus so they can teach him. Hopefully down the road we will hear he was baptized.

I recently re-read 1st Nephi and I always learn something new each time. This time it stood out to me that Nephi had incredible faith. 1st Nephi 3:7, 17:50, and 4:6 are the best verses. He was willing to do anything he was commanded and didn't question it even for a second. In 17:7, God commands him to go into the mountain, so he does it, not knowing why. He also never once complains about the hardships they go through. He was tied up for three days on a ship and in 18:16 he says when he was released he praised God and didn't murmur because of his afflictions. We can learn a lot from him. How many times do we complain about small things that don’t really matter? We can do anything God commands because he "has prepared a way" that we can accomplish it and we should do it willingly and with a grateful heart.

We have meetings every single day this week and the Nationals game on Friday, so this week will be super busy. You should try and watch the game cause I’m sure with 200+ people sitting together wearing shirts and ties is bound to get on the camera.

I've learned a lot in a small period of time and I hope I can continue to improve each day. President Riggs, the AP's, and my companion have expressed how impressed they are with me so early in my mission. I know I have a long way to go before I become what I want to be, but I’m thankful for how far I've come already. Thanks for all the love and prayers! Love you all!

-Elder Miles