October 30, 2017 – Happy Halloween!!

At the ward Trunk or Treat

This week has been pretty wonderful! We've seen some awesome miracles in our area and in the mission this week. This week we finally may have found the small family that we're looking for!

On Thursday evening we received a referral from mormon.org for a lady named Sarah who requested a Bible to be delivered. On Friday we were able visit with her briefly in the evening and gave her a Bible, a Book of Mormon, a pamphlet on the Plan of Salvation, and an invitation to our Ward's Halloween party. Then on Saturday we were able to sit down with her and we shared the Plan of Salvation, and then Sarah brought her 3 boys to the Halloween party and they loved it! Her boys’ names are Victor, Luchi, and Toni. they range from ages 11 to 16. Sadly, they didn't come to church on Sunday. All the boys really wanted to go, but Sarah was nervous and anxious and stayed up late the night before doing homework.

We also had a lesson with her on Sunday, which went super well.

We took the Magalei's with us (The Magalei's love to post and send pictures of us so you've probably seen a thing or two from them. Also, they went to BYUH). During the lesson we talked a lot about reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and coming to church. It was a really good lesson. They seem super willing to make the effort, though church may be a little tough for them. So please keep them in your prayers.

We also have been working with a part member family this week. The member's name is Evelyn. She's the only member in her family and she's 13. We've been working with her family lately and it looks like her younger sister wants to be baptized. So, we're working with them on that.

A few other fun things from this week. Firstly, we went to Oregon

With Elder Anderson

on exchanges this week. That was super fun! It was weird to be in another state, but we didn't have to worry about any sales tax! That was nice. Also Saturday we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders from Moses Lake and I got to be with Elder Anderson!!!! I trained him clear back when I was in Yakima! I miss him a ton and it was so fun to get to spend another day with him!! He has come a long way since I was first with him. He's an absolutely amazing elder.

It's been a good week! Tomorrow we have MLC, which will be fun for Halloween. Then we have to be in by 6 pm. So tomorrow won't be too crazy. Then on Thursday we get to be back in Omak!! I'm super stoked!

--

Elder Miles

Washington Yakima Mission

October 23, 2017 - Temple Trip

This week was pretty amazing. The highlight was definitely

getting the chance to go to the temple and have the chance to have a spiritual feast. This temple trip was a pretty special one. Honestly it was probably the best experience I've had in the temple. I went with a strong desire to learn a lot from the Lord, and I came away very edified and uplifted. I love the temple.

This week we had a couple of our investigators drop us. Chelann and Josie both texted us and told us that they were no longer interested. Chelann, we kinda expected, but Josie surprised us a ton. We texted her on Tuesday to set up an appointment for Wednesday and her response was "I'm sorry but I don't need you to come anymore. Plz and thank you." It took us totally off guard and was pretty sad but God has definitely helped us to find more people to teach.

Madi is doing super well. We had another lesson with her

yesterday and she believes the church to be true. Woke up at 6 am Sunday morning so she could finish all her chores so her mom would let her go to church. She loves the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized. The only catch is her mom. Her mom is pretty anti God, which makes things tough. Madi says that her mom probably won't let her get baptized, but we have hope. 

Karina is doing okay. She lives with her member sister and brother-in-law who are less active. Karina hasn't met with us this week, but Crystal and Gabriel (the members) both have met with us several times and seem fully intent on coming back to church. It's been really awesome working with them. Gabriel is extremely talkative and he loves visiting with us. Crystal on the other hand is extremely shy, so it's an interesting combo. They are super cool though.

OK so another huge highlight of my week was Hinocencio

Me, Hinocencio, Hermana Juana (wife), not their baby,
Elder Klossner, and Elder Shoemaker
Elder Klossner (MTC comp) is working​ now in my first
area and he's been the one working with Hinocencio.
It was awesome to see him again.

got baptized!!!!!!! He was the first investigator I ever found and taught on my mission. Clear back in Moses Lake and Thursday night he decided he wanted to be baptized on Friday!!! It was so awesome!!! It was so amazing! He's had a long road since I first knocked on his door with Elder Spackman. Since then he's given up alcohol completely after 40ish years of drinking, he's been deported and worked his way back to the states, he's gotten married to a member, and has broken his neck. It was a long time coming but it was extremely special. I've been praying for him ever since we first met him. There were several times that I thought he would never be baptized, but he pulled through and his testimony is super strong now. It was a beautiful baptismal service.

One last experience I would like to share. On Saturday we were on exchanges in Othello (Elder Allsop's old area) and I was with Elder Nunez. It was an awesome exchange but I had an experience that shook me a little (in a bad but good way haha). We went and visited an inactive member family and I was super excited for the lesson. The elders in Othello had never visited them before and we had hopes that since they were willing to meet with us that the lesson would go well. Well it didn't go so well. They let us in but their home felt absolutely empty. There was no hope, no peace, and there was definitely no spirit. It's hard to adequately describe it in words, but more or less it was horrible. They refused to pray, read, or go to church. They refused to do anything. It was super sad. Even though it was super hard for the spirit to be in their home I received a very strong warning from the spirit that "If I were to ever leave the church - that horrible feeling that I could feel would be all that awaits me." It was a really sad experience to see this family so far gone from the Gospel, but fortunately I was able to recommit to never leaving the church.

Love you all! Hope you have a good week!!

-- 

Elder Miles

Washington Yakima Mission

October 16, 2017 – Transfer Week

It's been a wonderful but crazy week! This week we said

Elder Allsop and Elder Miles

goodbye to 16 missionaries, but we welcomed in 27! Plus, we had the 4 come from Puerto Rico, so our mission is currently a little stuffed full of missionaries. This last round of transfer planning we had to open up 10 new areas because of the influx of missionaries. 

There isn't a ton to report on the week. Most of the week was spent helping with transfers, and then Thursday and Friday we spent the majority of those days in meetings with the new missionaries. So as far as proselyting work goes the first part of the week there isn't much to report, but the weekend was pretty awesome. 

Elder Allsop and I have been praying for a small family to

At transfers

teach and we've seen some awesome miracles this weekend that we are certain have come from our prayers. Like I mentioned earlier, the first part of the week was met with little success, but this weekend we found 3 new investigators. All of whom are pretty promising. One of them is the husband of a small family named Jeremy. We taught him on Saturday and we have another appointment with him this evening. His wife is currently out of town but she sounds willing to learn as well. We are really excited for him. He has met with missionaries in the past, but never made great strides with them. He's looking for truth but he feels like the struggle is finding it.

There is also a part member family in our area who has a lot

It's 2 AM - do they look tired?

of potential and yesterday we were able to get in with them and we had the chance to talk with several of them. One, a girl named Karina, is not a member and we have another visit set for this evening with them as well. Karina is about 18 and seems curious about finding out whether or not God even exists. We're super excited for her as well. 

The last investigator that we found this week is a girl named Madi. She's 16 and is dating one of the members of our ward. She came to church yesterday and we had the chance to ask her if she'd like to learn more. She said she'd love to. So, we had dinner and a lesson at the boyfriend/member home and she really liked it. She said that she's been visiting several churches but the only one that has made sense to her is the "Mormon" church. She's excited to read The Book of Mormon and find out if it is true. The only downside is that she lives outside of our area so we're going to have to make the transition to another set of elders eventually. We're going by this afternoon to have a brief follow up visit with her and see if she has read any of The Book of Mormon.

Some missionary called this "bunk beds."
It was pretty tough.

This week looks like it should be a good one. Tomorrow we are going to the temple! Which is super exciting! Then the rest of the week we have 3 exchanges and lots of opportunities to do some good proselyting work. We're really excited for the work in this area. Lots of good stuff is happening. 
-- 

Elder Miles

Washington Yakima Mission

In coming missionaries

October 9, 2017 – Transfer Planning and MLC

The subject says it all. That's really the only update that I have

Elder Allsop and Elder Miles

for you guys this week. Monday night after P-Day we prepped and planned for MLC, which was on Tuesday. Then Wednesday through today we have been packed with all sorts of planning for transfers that are happening on Wednesday. 

Transfer planning was super fun. We stared at a board for about 6 hours a day Wednesday - Friday trying to decide where every missionary should be and who they should be with. (There's pictures on the blog of us with President and Sister Lewis doing transfer planning). Honestly it was kinda weird to be on the other side of transfers, but it was super neat. I loved getting the chance to spend a lot of time with President and Sister Lewis. They are absolutely amazing. They have definitely been a major influence on my life and I am extremely grateful for that.

MLC was awesome! Again, there are a bunch of photos on the

Elder Allsop, Elder Miles, President Lewis

blog courtesy of Sister Lewis. Elder Allsop and I spent an hour training all the leadership on the importance of the first few minutes with our investigators and the impact that can have on the progress of each individual investigator. It was a super fun training and it went really well. 

Sorry I don't have much else! I love you all!
-- 

Elder Miles

Washington Yakima Mission

October 2, 2107 - What a week!

This week was pretty amazing! It was our first full week in the area since I've been here, and yet it was still

extremely busy. We had three exchanges this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I was rarely with Elder Allsop. On Tuesday the Wenatchee Zone Leaders came down and I got to spend another day with Elder Harman! He was my second comp in the field, so it was weird to spend another day with him just in a different part of Yakima. He finishes his mission here in two weeks, so it was really nice to spend another day with him before he left. 

On Wednesday we were on exchanges with the Spanish Zone Leaders here in Yakima and so I got to do Spanish work again!! It was so fun! It was weird to spend a majority of my day speaking Spanish but I loved it! The Hispanic culture is so cool! I love how friendly they all are. 

Then on Thursday we had the Zone Leaders from Othello come down to Yakima. I spent the day with Elder Aguilar, who was my district leader my first transfer in Omak, so it was super fun to go on another exchange with him. 

We were able to see a lot of success this week with a couple of the investigators that we currently have. The

After the Priesthood Session

most progress we saw was with our investigator Josie. Her husband is very anti-God and so she's been nervous to meet with us because of that. Well on Wednesday Elder Allsop visited her late in the evening and they had a bit of a confrontation with the husband. Nothing bad but the husband tried to tell them that Josie wasn't interested and that she didn't care to learn any more about God. Well it actually turned out to be a good thing because Josie defended herself and told her husband "No, I want to do this! You just won't let me!" Anyway, I guess they got into a little bit of an argument and it turned out super well. The husband is okay with her learning as long as she doesn't involve him, and now Josie doesn't feel guilty about trying to learn without bothering her husband. 

With the evacuation missionaries that came from Puerto Rico
after the Hurricane.

I hope that made sense, but if it didn't just know that it all worked out and now Josie has an even stronger desire to learn and her husband is okay with it! Matt is doing well. He went to the General Priesthood session on Saturday and he was invited to a member's home for the Sunday morning session and he loved it! Sadly, his wife Sara didn't watch any. He told us that he had wished she had watched several of the talks because they would have been very good for her. So, we're thinking that for the next few lessons we'll be watching some of the general conference talks with their family. Pray for Sara that her heart may be softened!

Love you all! Take care!

-- 

Elder Miles

Washington Yakima Mission