March 24, 2014 - Transfers!

This past Thursday we had transfers. Elder Oyler was shipped to a new area and I got a new companion! Elder Van Dyke also got transferred. The Elder that replaced him is Elder Capt. He played football at Pleasant grove and knows Chase Hansen pretty well. He graduated a year before me. Me and Elder Oyler had a lot of fun together. I’m going to miss playing him in basketball on Mondays. He was the best competition out here. We could have taken any other companionship easily!

Elder Miles and new companion, Elder Smith

My new companion is Elder Dexter Smith. He is from Arizona. He used to live in Mesa, but currently his family lives in Scottsdale. Elder Smith graduated this past year with me and he is my first companion that I am older then! He turned 19 in February. All of my past companions, including those that I trained, were older than me (haha). Elder Smith is different then all my companions that I’ve had. He isn't much into sports or working out but I still get him to come to the gym every morning at 6. He went into the MTC at the same time as Elder Oyler (in October). We are getting along good and having fun. It will be a great opportunity to develop love and patience.

Zohra's(in blue) Afghani Feast

Zohra was sad to see Elder Oyler leave so she made us an Afghani feast! She cooked a bunch of her favorite dishes from home. It was a lot different from the foods I’m used to eating. I can’t remember the names of the foods. It was all pretty good and we ate a ton! After dinner we watched "The Testaments" with her while we ate homemade cheesecake and another Afghani dessert. She is so ready to get baptized and she is really excited. She is reading the Book of Mormon everyday and she is currently in the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi!

Elder Miles and Driss, from Morocco

Our other investigators are doing well. Richard is in Houston for the next couple of weeks and we are going to try and have some lessons on Skype with him. Rose is in Ghana for the next month for her dad’s funeral. Ian and Amy are still trying to quit smoking and the Jehovah's witnesses recently knocked on their door and took them to church... great! Ian says he likes our church better because we take the sacrament every week (haha). Anthony, Delmy, and their son Brayden are awesome! They are really cool and I love talking to them. Delmy and Brayden come to church, but Anthony has work. He has been reading the Book of Mormon quite a bit though. We have some great investigators. Now we just need to get them to take the next step!

Elder Miles with "Elder Stanley"

I’m still trying to get used to teaching with our iPads. I’m used to flipping to scriptures in my paper copy and I feel like that is a lot easier. It will take some getting used to finding them digitally but the iPad is lighter to carry which is nice.

Life is great out here in the mission field! My testimony, knowledge, and understanding are continuing to grow! I love feeling the spirit work through me to teach others about the gospel!

-Elder Miles