"Peace be to Thee..."

3 John 1:13-14 --

 13. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write

unto thee:

 14. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to

face. Peace be to thee...

I love you all! See you soon!

At the Los Angeles Temple

Work Your Hardest!

Hello everyone! What a week it has been here in the "Nard."

Monday night we ended up in the ER with Hermana Garza. She was having

some weird pains that they couldn't diagnose. SO FRUSTRATING. But that

meant another quality 6 hours in the ER with President and Sister

Felix, which is always fun. We had some good laughs, and a LOT of

waiting. We still aren't totally sure what is going on, but Hermana

Garza is doing a lot better now, and we are hoping it will stay that

way!

 ER fun at 4 a.m.!

However, that meant a lot of time inside the apartment this week, so

it was fun. (Side note: you can only watch the Joseph Smith movie so

many times before you want to scream.) It was good though. Thursday,

the Sister Training Leaders came down, and we went on a blitz, and

then by Thursday night we were able to be back out working again. It

has been a fun week. :)

Here is one fun story from the week. Missionaries favorite question:

Can we help you with anything? Our favorite answer: Yes! We got a big

ol yes from our recent converts this week when we asked if we could

help them set up their pool they had just bought. It was one of those

bigger inflatable ones with the rings around the top, if you can

imagine. Well, none of us had any idea what was going on, and it was a

disaster. And SO MUCH FUN! So much water everywhere. After about an

hour, a change of clothes, and soaked hair, we were just dying

laughing because the pool was still only about 1/4 of the way full.

Such a struggs. When in doubt, laugh it out. That is my motto.

I still can't believe it is week 6 of my last transfer. What just

happened? Oh well, no time like the present to work your hardest!

I hope you all have a fun, pool filling, giggly week!

Love you so much!

Hermana Courtney Miller

"Finding Joy in the Journey"

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had another awesome week!

Oxnard is doing well. We have been spending a lot of time with our

LARCs recently with the hope that they would be a great finding tool,

and this week it really paid off. We have been able to find a bunch of

really cool potentials, and one AWESOME new investigator. His name is

L., and he is renting a room from on of our less actives/part member

families. We were watching "To This End Was I Born" this week, and he

came in about half way through, and asked if he could join us. We

said OF COURSE! And he absolutely loved the video. The family shared

with him why they meet with the missionaries, and E. talked about

why she decided to be baptized. He said he is really interested in

learning more, and we are excited to work with him. He has had a lot

happen in his life recently, and has really been prepared to receive

the gospel right now. Other than that, I love Oxnard!

Casual.

Hermana Garza is awesome. I love her so much. I have really had my

testimony strengthened again this week about people being put in our

lives for a reason. Hermana Garza is for sure the exact companion I

need at this time of my mission. And I am so so so grateful for my

district, and for all of the joy, and spirit that they bring into my

life. I am grateful to get to serve with Elder Moreno as we both

prepare to go home (he is helping to keep me sane. Haha.) And just

everything has been orchestrated so perfectly. Heavenly Father truly

knew what I needed. 

What do you get after you eat too much chile at a dinner appointment?

McDonalds dipped cones, of course!

Also, this morning I was reading the talk "Finding

Joy in the Journey" by President Monson. (Find it here: Finding Joy)  It talked a lot about

changes, and how a lot of times we don't notice them. As I think back

on these last 18 months, I realize how much I have really changed. All

of which are for the good. I am grateful for how much Christ has helped me

on my journey, and who he has allowed me to become. I was on exchanges

with Hermana Hurley this week, and she asked how I was handling going

home. I told her how I honestly felt. A lot of missionaries try and

spend there last couple of weeks trying to make up for things they

wish they would have done for the last 18 months. But the thing it,

Christ already made up for all of that. He covered our mistakes, and

helped us grow from them. So making up for it is not what it is all

about. But what it IS all about is showing him how grateful we are for

what he has done for us and who he has helped us become. That's why we

don't give up at the end. Because Christ helped us so much already.

Now it is our turn to tell him thank you through our actions. It is

not time to give up. Instead it is time to do our best.

I love this work so much. There is so much work to be done, and as one

of my favorite songs says, "the master is coming, we are not done

yet." There is always more to be done.

I love you all so much!

Hermana Courtney Miller

Baptism!!

HELLO EVERYONE!

 Oxnard. Where Elmo walks down the street with an American Flag in one

hand, and a Mexican Flag in the other.

I can not believe that it is Monday already. What just happened to this week!?

Oxnard is doing well! For SURE the highlight of this week was F.'S

BAPTISM! It was so incredible. And so smooth. And so spiritual. They

were so happy to have Hermana Brown and Hermana Eames come back. We

got to sing, which was super awesome, and he loved it. His whole

family came and supported him, which was really neat to see as well.

They all wrote him little notes, talking about how happy they are to

see him take another step in his faith, and they have really opened up

to us as missionaries. Our goal is to start teaching all of them

before the end of the transfer. Yay! But the baptism was so great.

F. was confirmed on Sunday, and when we visited him last night, he

was feeling super awesome. We explained to him how that was the

Spirit, and he is really starting to recognize it in his life. One

thing we found out yesterday, though, is that his football

coach/firefighting mentor is a super active member of the stake! We

couldn't believe it! If we would have known, we would have gotten him

involved. It will be great, though, for F. to have such a good role

model for him in his life, and to help him progress towards the temple

and a mission! I am so excited to see what lies in his path!

 F.'s Baptism!

 F.'s Baptism! Tripan ON POINT.

How we felt about the baptism!

I love love love being a missionary, and I can't wait to see what this

next week has in store!

 We keep it classy!

Hermana Courtney Miller