November 18, 2013 - Facebook!

We started using facebook this week. It was really strange to be getting on facebook again (haha). We started on Tuesday and we get to be on for one hour each day usually in the early afternoon. If you want you can add me on facebook (Elder Braden Miles), but please don’t write on my wall or tag me in anything! We are supposed to focus mainly on our assigned areas and use it for contacting people coordinating the work. We can also teach people outside our area, including back home, and have lessons with them on facebook or Skype. If there is anyone you want me to teach let me know! The goal is to teach people until they are comfortable enough to meet with missionaries in person. We also found out that each missionary will be getting his/her own ipad mini that we will be taking with us for our whole mission. Then, between each companionship, we will get an iphone 5s. All of our area books, planners, and teaching records will be on them. The Bishop and Ward Mission Leader can also access them. If you go on elderpauljohnson.blogspot.com I've heard he talks about it and explains it all.

Elder Miles and Companions at the Washington DC Temple

The transfer just ended this past Thursday, so I’m into my fourth transfer now. This transfer is a week short because of Christmas, so it ends December 19. That is most likely the day I will be heading to a new area. It will be interesting switching wards and apartments right before Christmas. It is possible I could stay here longer, but most likely not. Since we just finished a transfer I thought I would update you on my bike stats. Also, I don’t have much else to write about. I got my odometer a few days into my second transfer, so these are all for the last 3 months and don’t include my first 6 weeks. I’ve rode my bike about 500 miles, average speed 11mph, max speed 40mph :) - just thought you’d be interested in knowing. My jeans that I brought don’t fit to well anymore and are skin tight thanks to all the biking.

 We were going to go with an investigator to catholic mass yesterday, but the zone leaders shot that one down without much information. Our investigator sings in the choir and invited us to come watch their performance and go to mass with them. We were going to still go to the first two hours of our church and then head to mass. I was pretty interested to see what it is like because we talk to lots of people that are catholic. I’ve never been to another church service either. People ask us a lot if we have ever been to another church and I have to say no. Maybe we will be able to go in the future sometime.

I’m learning a ton each week. It’s crazy to look back at where I was four months ago and see how much I’ve improved! My understanding and knowledge of the gospel, my testimony, and my confidence have gone up a ton. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission! Love you all!

-Elder Miles

ps I would love to hear from more people! (cause I didn’t get many emails this week)

November 11, 2013 - DC Temple

Washington DC Temple

We went to the DC temple today with a member from our ward! Today was a special opening since its not usually open on Mondays. When we found that out we had to make it! The DC temple is super tall and pointy. When you are driving down the freeway it pops up right in front and it looks like you are driving right at it. That’s if you are coming from the Maryland side though. People we talk to always ask if it’s the "huge white castle off the 495". People also compare it to the Disneyland castle (haha). It was a great experience and that was the first time I've been to a temple other than the Timpanogos temple. There are Christmas lights and stuff at this temple during the holidays just like in Salt Lake. We are allowed to come with investigators to see them and we already have one that has said he would love to go. Hopefully I’ll be able to come see them a few more times over the next couple months. 

After the temple we went to an LDS bookstore place and then to a Chinese buffet. I ate tons of food and I even ate some sushi (hope you’re proud of me, Dad).

I forgot to mention last week how day light savings has affected us. We eat dinner from 5-6 and it used to be light when we left our apartment to work at night. Now we leave at 6 and it is pitch black outside and cold. We work from 6-9 in the dark now and people just absolutely love us knocking on their doors when it’s dark (haha). 

The weather hasn’t been too bad, but a couple nights it has gotten down in the low thirties when we were riding out bikes home at night. I've been pretty bundled up, so it’s not bad. My face just freezes with the icy wind. Then after our 3-5 mile bike ride home I’m sweaty underneath all my clothes which isn't too enjoyable (haha).

Countryside

I’m going to need a new camera! My 10 year old, 4.1 megapixel, ole reliable finally had its last breath. Elder Mathews loves how huge it is (haha). I didn't break it on purpose just to get a new one (if you were wondering), I pulled it out to take a picture the other day and the screen doesn't work. It is just a white screen now when I turn it on. So would you like me to buy one here? Or would you rather buy one and send it to me? 

The fan in our bathroom also broke this week. I was using the restroom and I heard a flapping noise in the vent. I think it was a bird that got lost. There are vents on the outside of the building that birds nest in. So all of the sudden there was a loud noise and the fan stopped. I think the little guy’s body is still stuck in there because the fan won’t work. We told the front office and they will hopefully be fixing it here pretty soon.

We had an investigator with us at church yesterday. That’s a great thing, but the meeting was not so much. You never notice how terrible everyone is at singing until you care what your investigator is thinking. Plus he is in his church choir, so he started out singing loud and proud. Then once he realized how bad everyone was he got softer and softer (haha). Also the topic for the meeting was tithing which made it even better. He could only stay for sacrament, luckily, cause gospel principles would have been awkward as well. We have been teaching this guy for a little while. He is super awesome and we are pretty good friends. His name is Blair and he is Catholic. He was the only black guy in the whole chapel as well, so that might have been a little uncomfortable. Our two black members weren't there for him to see that we aren't just a bunch of weird white people. At first he told us he had no intention to change religion, but we could come and teach him if we wanted to. We've taught him a few times and become pretty good friends. He is now looking into it and praying to know if it’s true. We taught him the plan of salvation last week. When we came to the three degrees of glory, I read 1 cor. 15:40-41 to him, and he was like "it says that in the bible!?" We also went by a former investigator this past week and they let us right in and they are really excited to learn more and get involved!

One thing that I've learned on my mission is how great the bible dictionary is! One of the great ones to read is prayer. It talks about how prayer is not to change the will of the father, but to align our will with his. It also says that when we pray, truly pray in the name of Christ, that we pray according to his will. Prayers go unanswered because they don’t reflect his will, but come from our selfish desires. Sometimes I wonder why my prayers aren't answered even though I've been praying for the same thing for a long time. Just because we pray a lot for something doesn't mean God will change his will. When I pray with the spirit and I pray for things that I feel inspired to say I know that it is my will coming in alignment with his. It says in 3 Nephi 18:20 that when we pray with faith, IF IT IS RIGHT, then we will receive it. The bible dictionary has lots of other good topics to read as well.

Love you all!

-Elder Miles

November 11, 2013 - National Zoo/Arlington Cemetery

Check it out - Miles Avenue!

The last two P-days have been pretty jam packed with fun stuff! Today we went to the National Zoo in DC.  It was strange because it was free and you can just walk straight in and see everything right in the city. It was a little chilly and we didn't get to stay too long, but it was great! We took the metro this time and that takes longer than just driving. Last week we went to the Arlington National Cemetery. It was way bigger than I imagined it being! It was fun to see the changing of the guard and John Kennedy’s grave. Those are things I've only seen in pictures, but it was cool to be there. My feet hurt because it was a lot of walking and it felt like a day at Disneyland! Next week we will probably take it easy and play some basketball or something.

Washington DC View (in the background) - from Arlington National Cemetery

We are going to start using facebook next week! We won’t get the ipads and iphones until mid December. We will be able to teach anyone back home, through facebook or Skype that isn't a member of the church. If you have any referrals for me let me know!

Also I’d like to thank Grandma Sparks for the awesome homemade rolls I received recently! They were amazing and my roommates loved them as well. Halloween was fun. We didn’t end up watching Despicable Me 2 cause I guess it’s not on DVD yet or something, but we will probably watch it for Christmas. We watched Monsters University and the Emperor’s New Groove. We pulled all the couches from the foyer and watched them on a projector in the gym. We had lots of good food too!

Fall colors in Virginia

We didn't do as much tracting this week as usual. We've been trying to do a lot more member work to get referrals. President Riggs as introduced "Family Fun Nights" where we can go to a members house, teach a Family Home Evening type lesson and play a game or something. The goal is for the families to have fun and then feel comfortable inviting friends over to do the same thing at some point. One of the scriptures we've been sharing with the members is D&C 88:81. It says that for those who have been warned to warn theirs neighbors. We as members of the church have been "warned" and it’s our responsibility to share what we know with others.

Elder Miles

I've started reading the New Testament recently because I've never read it all the way through before. I felt like I should in order to gain a stronger knowledge of what the people we teach have been reading. Lots of people study the bible and it’s important to be able to use a few references from the bible in our teaching. The New Testament is really good and I wish I would have read it earlier! Any of you out there that haven’t read it I encourage you to do it! It’s really interesting seeing the similarities between it and the Book of Mormon. It’s awesome having time to study and learn more about the gospel!

Love you all!

-Elder Miles

Elder Miles at the Arlington National Cemetery

Elder Miles and the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater

October 28, 2013 - Halloween Party!

We had our ward Halloween party this last Friday and it went really well! We had three investigators show up and one less active! It was a chili cook off and then a Trunk or Treat. I only had one bite of chili and then everyone started showing up and I got busy talking. It was really great to introduce the members to some of the people we are teaching and to get our investigators more comfortable with the church. We also had the primary program yesterday and one of our investigators (who also came to the party) came and brought her daughter. She had been to one in the past and said that this year wasn't as good as before (haha). Her daughter is 18 years old and pretty severely autistic. She is really great. She always brings us sodas when we come over (haha). She came to the party and when we were all cleaning up she started shooting a basketball and she couldn't miss! It was pretty crazy (haha).

I’m not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but at the beginning of this transfer they split several of the zones including ours and now there are 10 zones. This last week at district meetings it was announced that we will be getting Ipads in mid December!!! That was pretty exciting. We will be able to get on Facebook and stuff too. We don’t know too many details but the Zone Leaders are being trained on how to proselyte online. We were all super stoked, then they announced something else... After the new year, all missionaries will be required to wear man purses (shoulder bags). The 12 say that backpacks make us look like salesmen. I’m not too excited for that one to say the least (haha). We had interviews with president Riggs this week. He talked mostly about how the work has been hastened and we have been saved for this time. It was pretty cool. He is coming up to our zone to play basketball today, but none of my roommates want to go. We are going to the Arlington Cemetery today instead.

We seem to have very good timing cause we always run into people as they are pulling into their driveways, which makes it kind of awkward (haha). We haven’t had too much luck this week besides the Halloween party. We didn't teach too many lessons or find new investigators, but we've stayed positive. All we can do is keep working hard and being obedient. There is no use in being negative cause that just makes things worse! I can’t think of any really good stories from this week to tell, but there are always interesting conversations. Some people won’t open the door so we just talk through the door and Elder Seely got a rejection when he tried to shake a guy’s hand (haha). People weren't too interested in talking during the Redskins game last night either.

We haven’t been having too much success in terms of numbers lately, but the work is definitely going well. It talks about success in Preach My Gospel as being your commitment, obedience, and progress. We are doing all of those things and I know we are being successful missionaries. I’m learning and growing a ton and having fun. I know if we just keep working hard and doing all we can to improve that we will be blessed with people who are ready to accept the gospel! I've been reading in Ether and chapter 12 verse 6 is very good. It says miracles don’t happen until after the trial of our faith. Our faith is being tried, but I know we will see miracles. They won’t come when we want them to cause everything happens in the Lord's time!

Chase has told me his playing time has gone up slowly. Sorry if I can’t write much today. My computer is being super slow. I have heard BYU is looking better and I can’t believe Hoffman is passing everyone. We are still teaching the Indian guy but he is super busy with work. The Syrian family moved to New Jersey and we are trying to get their address to refer them. We teach between 3 and 10 lessons a week. We tract for about an hour a day. I will probably be in Sterling until Dec. 19 which is the end of next transfer. We have like 10 regular investigators.

Love you

-Elder Miles

October 21, 2013 - Sweater Weather!

Elder Miles and Elder Smith from LP

It’s been a little chilly around here lately. The last few nights I got pretty cold riding my bike, so today it was time to break out the sweaters! The leaves here are changing color, but not as much as I would have thought. It’s going to be really pretty when they all change. It’s coming up on Halloween and we aren't allowed to go out to work on Halloween night. I guess people wouldn't like our missionary costumes. Instead we get to go to the stake center as a zone and watch some movies! We are going to watch Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. I’m pretty excited for that. Also, we have our ward Halloween party this Friday night and we are hoping to have some of our investigators there that have little kids. Our Bishopric changed a few weeks ago and the new bishop is awesome. I think that it will be a great change and I think we will see some great progress in the missionary work.

I've learned a little bit more about the cost of living out here and its crazy... One of our investigators is moving and he is selling his house for 600k. It’s a nice house, but not too big. Another investigator was saying that her town home cost over 400k! So even the poor people out here are rich! She wants to move somewhere with mountains and I suggested Utah would be a good place! The guy that’s moving has been talking to missionaries for a long time, but hasn't been too interested. He loves talking to missionaries and being friends, but he’s never really progressed. We've been working hard with him the last few weeks and we've seen progress. He has started reading the Book of Mormon and says he will definitely keep reading it. He thanked us for helping him come closer to God. He also said that I have pushed him the hardest of any missionaries in the last several years (haha). He is a really great guy and I had him add me on facebook.

Elder Johnson, Elder Mathews, Elder Miles, Elder Seely

A little more info on our greenies. Elder Seely likes golf, baseball, and basketball. He worked for a bee keeper in Mount Pleasant. He turned 19 in September, so he is actually older than his dad (Me) (haha). He has improved a lot in the last few weeks and is doing great! Elder Mathews (Elder Johnson's companion) is from Mesa Arizona. He played football and is pretty cool. Not sure what else to say...

We've had some fun tracting experiences this week, but this one was definitely the funniest. This guy answers the door and he is pretty crazy looking. He squints at us and sticks his head out the door and says "oh my gosh... what kinda cult are you? I’m just kidding i know you’re Mormons. I really like Mitt Romney. Also, I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman.... and another woman.... (as he’s backing away) and another woman... and another woman... jk I’m just yankin your chain. I’m atheist." then he slams the door and locks it. Me and Elder Seely busted out laughing (haha).

The Transportation

One thing that the mission has really been emphasizing in our teaching is talking about the spirit. When we teach the restoration we are supposed to first talk about the spirit and how to recognize it and how it feels, so that they know they are feeling it during the lesson. We tell them that when they feel it that is the spirit telling them it is true. Then we teach up to the first vision and remind them about the spirit. Then we give the first vision and pause. During the silence I can feel the spirit so strong and I know they can feel it too!!! We then talk about how they feel and invite them to be baptized right then when the spirit is strongest! We haven’t had too many opportunities to use this yet, but I have definitely felt a difference. The spirit is so thick in the room after we talk about the first vision and I love it! Things are looking up and I’m excited for what’s to come!

Love you!

-Elder Miles

October 14, 2013

It has been a pretty exciting week! The other day I ran over a squirrel with our minivan. That was a neat experience. I had my first crash on my bike and it rained for 4 straight days!

We were driving back from a meeting on a two lane road through a cool area with tons of trees. It was a nice October day and the weather was splendid. Then I see a squirrel up the road on the other lane. There was a car coming fast at it so it decided to come my way... RIP. That was the first time I've hit an animal with a car and it was pretty gross (haha). It’s been raining for 4 straight days and we've been in a continuous state of getting soaked, drying off, and then repeating. There are several small wooden bridges in our area and thanks to the rain, they are pretty slippery. I slid on one and had my first crash (haha). Don’t worry - the bike is fine! Also Elder Seely did an "over the handle bars" crash right into the mud. It just happened to be right next to a super busy road and everyone probably saw it. The other Elders crashed as well (haha).

We have done a lot of tracting this past week. It’s been raining, so the hope was that people would let us in because they feel bad. Also, tons of people are off work because of the government shut down and we were hoping that would increase the teaching opportunities. That wasn't really the case. It has been really good practice for the both of us. Tracting is great because we can evaluate and get better at each door. We had some funny stories and we found a couple of new investigators.

Elder Miles - looking good!

One night it was raining and we had been tracting for almost two hours with not much luck. We were about 5 minutes from needing to head back home. I had the impression we needed to pray. After praying we knocked a couple more houses and still got nothing. Then as we were about to leave we saw one house with a TV on inside. We decided to knock one last door. We ended up with a new investigator and came back the next day and taught her another lesson. It was a great experience and testimony builder on following the spirit and the power of prayer. We also tracted into another family from Syria who we taught the first discussion to on the door step. When we got to the first vision he said "keep going! This is so exciting!" They loved it so much they agreed to be baptized right there! Then we asked them when we could stop by again to bring them an Arabic Book of Mormon. He said it would have to be the next day because they were moving to New Jersey in a couple days. Bummer. We took them the book and they were really excited about it. They had gone on mormon.org, read the pamphlet we gave them, and they said when they get to New Jersey they are going to go to a Mormon church. We are going to refer them to some lucky missionaries there pretty soon (haha).

Last night we knocked on a door and some lady yelled "Who is it" through the door. We told her "It’s the missionaries!". She then told us to go away and that she wasn't interested. I told her that what we have to share would bless her and her family’s lives so much. In response she yelled back "What would make me the happiest right now is if you would leave." (haha). The day before that, an older African American guy answered the door. We were being friendly and asking how his day had been. Then I noticed a big happy birthday balloon behind his head, so I asked whose birthday it was. He didn't like that. He said "Why are you being all inquisitive and lookin in my house!?" We ended up talking for awhile longer but he wasn't interested.

-Elder Miles

October 7, 2013

Hello again! This is Elder Miles reporting from Sterling, Virginia!

Transfer meetings were this last Thursday. My companion, Elder Aland, is now home in San Diego. I was with Elder Aland until transfer meeting. President Riggs in his last email to me said "The Lord knows you are already a leader."

The Outgoing Companions

Both of my trainers are already home which doesn’t happen very
often. I got to keep lots of their stuff which saved me (mostly my family) some money. We had some trainers meetings with president Riggs and the AP's before getting my new companion. My new companion is Elder Seely from Mount Pleasant, Utah. He graduated same year as me, but he just barely turned 19. He is my most quiet companion, but he is great! I made sure to take him tracting before we did anything else! President told us to do that and let them go first, so I did (haha). I remember that moment so I can feel for him because it’s pretty awkward and scary, but the only way to get over it is to do it a lot. He has made some good improvements in the last few days. He played golf, baseball, and basketball at North Sanpete. Elder Johnson’s companion is from Mesa and we were talking a little about Mesa CC. It’s strange being the one with the most experience cause I feel like I just got here! We have a total of 6 months experience between the 4 of us in our apartment (haha).

Elder Seely and Elder Miles

At transfer meetings I got to talk to Josh Smith (from the football team last year). Also Jake Larsen’s dad (football team mate last year) came up to me after priesthood session. Apparently they just moved into a nearby ward. It is always great to talk to a familiar face. It’s crazy how many people I have seen out here that I know or who knows somebody I know.

We have been able to catch a lot more people home in the last few days because everyone is off work, thanks to the government shut down. We also didn’t get to go to the zoo today because of that, plus it is raining really hard right now, so it wouldn’t have turned out anyways.

General Conference was great! Sad to say that is the first time I’ve watched all the sessions (haha). I really liked Elder Ballard’s Saturday afternoon talk on missionary work. President Monson’s, Elder Bednar’s, and Elder Holland’s were all good as usual too. It was really hard to focus the whole time because I kept getting drowsy. It doesn’t help that we get little amounts of sleep, it was dark, quiet, and comfortable (haha). It’s incredible how much I’ve learned from the scriptures already. I gain a greater understanding and knowledge every day. During General Conference when they would quote scriptures I knew where they were reading from and I could quote it with them!I’m weighing about 210 now a days (all pure muscle).

Golf? Anyone?

Not much else to report, but thanks for all the prayers and support! Love you all!

-Elder Miles

p.s. it is a down pour outside right now