13 PaGeS LoNg

WhErE tHe PaGeS oF tHiS bOoK nEvEr EnD



Tuesday, October 27, 2015

That's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does...

Hello There Everybody!
This emails gonna be short but I hope its good for those of you who still read my emails. It's been a long week, but very busy. A few day ago the whole zone helped out at a band competition at Long Beach city college. It was pretty fun and entertaining. Elder Prisbrey got burnt to a crisp though along with some others. I've learned from past mistakes and hid in any shade I could find for most of the service. It was cool to be there and be around other people who volunteered and were looking to help out.

Our mission has been focusing a lot lately on just serve projects, just getting us missionaries out amongst the people in the community, serving and setting good examples as members of the church. On another note, we taught Daleen last night, she is doing Great. It was the only time we were able to meet with her this week which was sad, but it's because she's been sick, but she's all good now. We read 2 nephi 31 with her and it was an awesome lesson. We pretty much laid everything out, what she's been doing what she's been taught, how she feels she's changed, and now what she needs to do to reach baptism and the things we still need to teach her. With the spirits help she we set a new baptismal date with her for the 1st of December. The spirit filled the room when she said that date. elder Prisbrey and I both believe as well as Daleen (which is most important) that she can make that date, and we helped her know that God knows she can make it to with his help. It's been a long journey for Daleen but she can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. She texted us this morning and described an experience she had while re reading chapter 31. To put it simply she said she hadn't had a spiritual experience as powerful as the one she had today.

I know that Heavenly Father Knows us. He Knows Our VERY Situation and is always there to help us when we need it. The Holy Ghost as we live right, is our constant companion, someone to be there no matter what we may be going through or faced with, the enabling power of the atonement combined with the force of the spirit can and will get us through anything. God Cares about us, and the more I've served my brothers and sisters around me here, I've realized that we are all somewhere on the same path, and as we serve and help and show love and care for everyone, the happier they will be, the happier we will be, and most of all the happier Heavenly Father will be. That's what the gospel of Jesus Christ does, it bring people together. and it brings us closer to the Savior and our loving father in heaven. I know this is the truth! And I love this knowledge, and wouldn't trade it for a thing! The mission is teaching me things everyday, and sometimes it's hard to put down into words but I hope y'all can catch a glimpse of it. I can feel it everyday. Until Next week. Thanks for all the good news! I Love Yall! Be safe and trust in Good things to Come.

Sincerely, Elder Page

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Sister Kate Miller is home...


Sister Miller arrived home last night from her LDS Mission in Manchester, England. It was a bitter sweet reunion, so obviously missing was her sweet mother, Kelli.
Katie's mother passed away last week, so the reason for Katie coming home a bit earlier than planned, but she is where she needs to be and that is with her sisters and
Step father, Macon. She will be a great blessing and comfort to them in the coming days ahead.

She has a very British way about her :) which I think she loved hearing. The loved her mission so much. I look forward to hearing all about in the days and weeks ahead.
We love you Katie and are so proud of you and the good things you have done and will continue to do to serve the Lord and His children. I have to admit I will miss the
weekly emails of all of your experiences and witness your growth. Missionaries are a rare gem, and what they learn from their time of service will serve them for the rest
of their lives.

Keep the faith Katie. My mind goes to the wise words from Elder Jeffery Holland in his talk given in 2013 Lord I Believe

"When doubt or difficulty come, do not be afraid to ask for help. If we want it as humbly and honestly as this father did, we can get it. The scriptures phrase such earnest desire as being of “real intent,” pursued “with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God.”11 I testify that in response to that kind of importuning, God will send help from both sides of the veil to strengthen our belief. I know that God is at all times and in all ways and in all circumstances our loving, forgiving Father in Heaven. I know Jesus was His only perfect child, whose life was given lovingly by the will of both the Father and the Son for the redemption of all the rest of us who are not perfect. I know He rose from that death to live again, and because He did, you and I will also. I know that Joseph Smith, who acknowledged that he wasn’t perfect,15 was nevertheless the chosen instrument in God’s hand to restore the everlasting gospel to the earth. I also know that in doing so—particularly through translating the Book of Mormon—he has taught me more of God’s love, of Christ’s divinity, and of priesthood power than any other prophet of whom I have ever read, known, or heard in a lifetime of seeking. I know that President Thomas S. Monson, who moves devotedly and buoyantly toward the 50th anniversary of his ordination as an Apostle, is the rightful successor to that prophetic mantle today. We have seen that mantle upon him again in this conference. I know that 14 other men whom you sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators sustain him with their hands, their hearts, and their own apostolic keys.

These things I declare to you with the conviction Peter called the “more sure word of prophecy.”16 What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the tree of life, so if your faith is a little tested in this or any season, I invite you to lean on mine. I know this work is God’s very truth, and I know that only at our peril would we allow doubt or devils to sway us from its path. Hope on. Journey on. Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe."

We love you Katie and pray for you and your family.

Alma 34:31...


I've been sitting the last 10 minutes or so trying to figure out how I wanted to start this email, and I still don't know how but I guess just typing what comes to my mind isn't a bad way to go. It's been one of the longest and hardest weeks of my mission, and there has been a lot that's happened that I haven't been able to control. It's a hard feeling to have to cope with not being able to say what will happen next and just hoping and praying things will be alright. I know Trials and Affliction, and pain has to be apart of this life because without it, I know I wouldn't be the person I am right now, and I wouldn't have hope of becoming the person The Lord wants me to be. Amid all of the things that have happened I Know for a fact that the Lord has also blessed me with one of the sweetest, most memorable weeks of my mission. It's the weirdest thing I can't really describe feeling emotions from both ends of the spectrum. My thoughts are probably gonna get kinda jumbled, but like I said I'm gonna write what I'm thinking. Heavenly Father Knows Us, He Loves Us, and this week has helped me see that He really does have a plan, A plan of happiness, a plan of salvation, and a plan of mercy! Although we won't always understand that plan, the knowledge that there is one and that we can trust in it and have faith in it is the greatest feeling! It's Through The Saviors Atonement (triumph over not only spiritual death but also physical) that makes all that may seem unfair in this life right in the end. And it's not just a hope for peace in the end, But I know that we can have heavenly peace now, everyday of our lives if we turn to the Lord. Just like I bad cut being healed, the stinging pain of loss, or sin, or regret, or disappointment has to be felt in order for the wound to truly be cleansed and healed, just as medicine might hurt with initial contact and application. The pain will always be necessary, but its the Healing of our souls that is the Miracle of it all. I know that what I've said is true. I know that Jesus Christ Lives and He Loves us and will always be there for us when we need him. For You that's Reading this, remember that I am Praying, Still. I Love You. And I Know Everything Will be alright in the Lords Time. Keep exercising the Faith I already know you have! Keep being an example to the people close to you, especially me. And Don't forget to Smile. I really am grateful for my mission. The word Grateful doesn't come close to what I want to say, but it'll do for now. I Love serving the Lord, and I hope I can always have this Love of missionary work. I am getting to know my Heavenly father better and better everyday.


Until Next Week, Godspeed!

Love, Elder Page


P.S. We did quite a bit of teaching and definitely finding this week, which was Great! Just to update yall on Daleen, she is doing Awesome! She's reading, praying, having spiritual experiences right and left. She's still attending ARP weekly, her testimony of the Gospel is growing So rapidly! She even came out teaching with us this week. She helped us teach another investigator we're working with, we stopped by a couple of members, and we did a lot of contacting, and even some door knocking, it was So Fun! And she wants to do it again this week :) Thanks for all the prayers! Miracles are happening. Can't wait to give you the rundown for this week next Monday!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Right place @ Right time...


So this week was full of Awesome missionary moments. I'll go ahead and give y'all an update on Daleen because she is just too good for her own good! This week we met with her 3 times! And addition to our regular meetings she's been reading consistently out of the Book of Mormon, and she even drove herself to an ARP meeting at the Stake Center! We have just been so happy and proud of her this week. She doesn't always give herself enough credit or realize the progress she's making, but we do. And the change she has made over the past few months has been unbelievable. It has single-handedly strengthened my testimony of the Saviors Atonement and the Enabling power that it brings as we do all we can to be close to Christ and his Gospel. Daleen really has helped me fulfill my Purpose as A missionary. It hasn't always been easy with her, Lessons haven't always gone to plan, she has had times where she doesn't keep commitments, BUT, as we haven't given up on her, and helped her realize the Lord hasn't either, she has had more Faith in Herself, which has really been the difference maker. She wants to be a member of the Church more than anything right now, so prayer and continual progression day by day is what will get her there. We know she's gonna make it, and its gonna be the Sweetest thing to See!




As far as other experiences go, About 15 months ago, Sister Sabin gave me a couple of names of friends that lived here in the Long Beach area that she wanted missionaries from the Mission to go by. Its sad to admit, but until about 3-4 weeks ago I put those hand-written referrals into a box never to be seen. Along with my own forgetfulness, I believe the spirit restrained my memory of these names until now, because as I found them just the other week, I realized Crazy enough Bill & Christa Guntner lived In my area, and not only in my area, but about a 5 minute bike ride away! I couldn't believe it, so As soon as I made the connection we were over to their home! The first visit was super cool because they welcomed us right on in and we got to know each other making the connection between myself and Sister Sabin's family. They are some of the nicest people I've met on my mission. We were able to leave them with a scripture and they wanted us to come back, so we were more than happy to. This past week, they had us over for Dinner. We had a great time getting to know each other better. We had a really spiritual lesson prepared for them. we read out of 3 nephi where Christ appears to the people and they feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet. The spirit was very Strong. We then watched a video I remember watching as a family a few years back called 'Another Testament'. Its a slideshow of pictures depicting Christ's visitation to the Americas and its probably the most Spirit-filled video I've ever watched. We watched it with them and the room was thick with the spirit, I knew they felt it because I felt it, and at that moment my own testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Savior was confirmed. After the video we asked them how they felt and they both described feelings of the spirit. We had a member bear her testimony, and it was awesome, but unfortunately at the end of our visit Both Bill and Christa expressed that they were comfortable where they are at right now. It was honestly a little disappointing, because we knew that they had felt something, but either way it felt great to be able to give them that experience, and to know that the Lord worked through us to bring Bill and Christa closer to the truth and to their Savior. Sometimes we may question where we are and the things that we are doing are exactly what god wants for us, and if there's one thing I've learned so far on my mission is that the only way to know if where we are and what we're doing is right is to simply pray and begin taking steps forward. we'll never know if we stay stagnant, but I've realized more and more that 'Faith' truly is an action word. And I've had a lot of peace over these last 15 months knowing that I've been put in the right places at the right time.


I Love The Lord and the work he has for me to do. I Love all of Y'all more than I can describe. I really do. I'm pretty dang blessed to have the life, the family and friends that I do. Heavenly Father Always provides for us, because he is Our Loving Father!


Until Next week. Godspeed!

Love, Elder Page

Continually relying on Christ...

Sorry I'm like forever Late in this, we've had a sisters activity ALL day no it's basically taken our preparation day so I'm so sorry if I don't have time to respond to everyone personally!


Life in Wrexham has been great, I honestly love it and feel so at home. I also have such a love for this ward! Wrexham is full of faithful people who fight through the trials of life with a smile on their face. I have felt SO much love from every single member. Whether we're in their home over for tea, we see them while we're out and about, or we have to call them about something, the love is clearly there. I am just so full of gratitude, and that has been what has pushed me through some of my most challenging moments.

So we have an update on Fay! We got to visit her this Sunday. She is honestly such an amazing mum, she has four Children and is trying to get her degree, she is a super mum! When we visited her there were so many things going on, including her cute and energetic four year old! After much playing around with Amelia, we were able to share a video about Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. The spirit really filled the room and allowed all of us to feel it. We left with our testimonies and prayer, and we'll be seeing her again next week. I know that God loves us and I love love LOVE that we get to share that with His children.

We've also been visiting this sweet lady, Leanne. She has had a hard life, and is still fighting like a champ. She's been taught by missionaries before, and even had a baptismal date, but had so many medical things going on that is wasn't possible for her to be baptized and then things dropped off from there. Well on Thursday we were able to catch her in and had such a lovely visit. We talked with her about the past times she had met with missionaries and asked why she had wanted to be baptized in the past. She said "that is would be a clean start, she would get to start all over" and the power of that filled the room. I love when people realize that following that example of Christ really is a fresh start. It reminds me of when I was younger and me and my sister Megan would bicker, and my mom would always tell us to "start fresh" and that is exactly what baptism is for us. It's hope. It's peace. It's joy! And so we invited Leanne to be baptized and she said yes! This will be a battle, but she realizes it, and knows that we and the savior will be with her every step of the way.

It's not always easy, but it's enjoying all of the ups, and even the downs, and continually relying on Christ is what makes serving a mission possible.

I love you all so so much!

Sister Miller

Monday, October 5, 2015

What a week...


I honestly don't know where to begin for this week. I guess with conference since that's fresh in my mind. Conference for me this weekend was inspiring to say the least. It's so nice to just look forward to conference more and more every session every year! I don't know if I had a favorite talk but I know that there was much to be learned from those who spoke. After listening to the 3 new apostles speak I had originally planned to take some notes but I realized after they had all spoken I hadn't taken any notes, I think because I was just so focused on the words coming out of their mouths I didn't even think to take notes. So the only thing I wrote next to each of their names was, "The mantle truly has been placed, and Spirit Felt" I know that the three that were called as apostles this weekend are true apostles of the Lord and its awesome to have just met Elder Rasband not even a year ago here in the mission. He is definitely inspired and their testimonies were so REAL. They felt like Real people. The Lord really does call men from humble beginnings to do do his work, and I know for myself as we are engaged in his work, we then become the people and the priesthood holders he Needs us to Be.
If I gave my detailed opinion about conference I'd be typing all day so I'll wait to share notes when I get home. On a side note though, How Great was the accent on the first woman that spoke? Now that took me back home for a minute. I really do miss a good southern accent.

We had a couple of our investigators watch conference which was awesome. Daleen watched three of the four sessions! We were so proud of her. And it was awesome because one we watched at the church and the other two were at members from the wards Homes. She really enjoyed conference and felt the spirit pretty strong throughout. I love it when I know the spirit is working with people. And it feels even better when you know you are even a small part of them feeling it.


Our other investigator Shirley (an older lady) watched one session at a members home. And she said she really liked it and would look forward to talking more about it when we see her tomorrow. The members in this ward are legit! They are always so willing to do Missionary work, to step out of their comfort zones and do what the lord asks of all of us.
I had some really amazing experiences that I wanted to share last week that I wasnt able to share because of time but here they are. The first one takes place in the morning on a day last week. We were riding our bikes through a neighborhood. We passed by a house that was having a yard sale and there was a younger guy sitting outside on his porch. The spirit instantly told me to stop and talk to him, and as bad as it is, I just kept riding and told myself we have someone to see right now and I'll just catch him on the way back. Well, the person that lived nearby that we were going to see wasnt home and luckily the Lord was merciful enough to give me a second chance. As we passed by his home again, we stopped and started talking to him. His name is JP and he is in his early 20s. Super nice guy, has a wife and a 7 month year old baby girl. We ended up buying a couple of ties off him, and before we could even bring up the gospel he came out and said, "You know, I've always wanted to sit down with a couple of missionaries like you two and hear what you have to say, I'm Always looking for Truth. Would there be a time that you could come by and teach me?"

Both Elder Prisbrey and I were speechless, It was the weirdest thing being asked these questions when usually we're the ones doing the asking. JP was So prepared to receive us and I'm so glad to have been put in the right place at the right time so that the Lord could give JP the chance to hear the message of the restored gospel. So this week we took a member over (A Priest getting ready to leave on his mission) and taught him the Restoration. He agreed with everything, God being a loving heavenly father, the Gospel blessing families, the need for scriptures and prophets and even apostasy! It went pretty well and he agreed to read and pray to know if the B.o.M. is true. we should be meeting with him this week again so I can't wait to let y'all know how it goes.

There have just been experiences like that happening left and right here and I dont know what we're doing to deserve missionary opportunities like these but it assures me that The Lord Loves us, that he Loves these people and is doing everything he can to help them have the same Joy that we have. So sorry this has been the longest email ever sent, I just wanted to catch up from last week. I Love serving the Lord. I'm Happy as can be. I'm growing everyday with the help of the Savior. And I Love all of y'all. Thank You for being the family and friends you have always been for me. Until next week. love a lot, and always make time to laugh at yourself.


Sincerely, Elder Page

CT...


Hello everyone, it's been such a wonderful week here in Wrexham, I am continually learning and growing and still loving serving with sister Barlow! The members here are so wonderful and helpful, but also super funny. There's one family here that likes to give missionaries nicknames, and I got one this week, "ct". Haha I've been sick this past week and I was talking to this member about it and she said, "oh you might have a case of the cat throat" and I totallllllly believed her! So then my Wrexham nickname has become cat throat haha.

We went on exchange this past week and I was with sister black in Wrexham! Haha all I can say is that is was just so fun,we saw miracles, and loved serving with each other again! I love her to bits. I also was reminded to always be yourself in finding and teaching, because that is how our lights can shine clearly for others to see.

Also we're teaching this cute family, or at least we're trying to! The sisters met Fay before I got here but haven't really taught her much. So we had an appointment to see her Friday evening, but sadly everything had basically gone wrong for her that day. As she explained to us the myriad of things that were going on in her life, I just felt a love for her and knew that she was a daughter of God. I was also greatful that she trusted us and felt that we could help her. We just stood at her doorstep to chat for like three minutes and rescheduled to see her next week. I absolutely love my companion because when we were back in the street she said "we need to get them chocolate!" Haha so we went to the co-op and bought loads of different chocolate that her and her kids would enjoy, then we sneakily left it in their doorstep, and then made our way home. I felt so so good after this! Haha it may seem silly, but this simple act just built up my testimony that we really aren't here on our missions for us, we're here to serve and love as Christ would.

We're doing loads of finding, but honestly it's giving us such good time to unify in our teaching. Finding with sister Barlow never is dull :) I love you all and hope that you always remember who you and and whose you are!

Sister Miller xx

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