New Companion

Happy Transfer Week Everyone!

I suppose before the suspense kills you all, I should tell you what is

happening.

I am staying! I am so excited about that. (As long as I don't sweat to

death.) However, Hermana Martin is leaving me. She is going to Oxnard,

and I am getting a new companion, Hermana Hardy. She trained Hermana

Martin, and was companions with Hermana Ah Mu a few transfers ago. It

will be weird to have a new companion, but change can always be a good

thing when you set your mind to it, so I am so excited about what will

come. Here is to hoping we can find a ride to transfer meeting! Oops.

Let the missionaries loose in Target, and weird, matching combinations will ensue.

Hermana AhMu and me.  (This girl keeps me [in]sane!)

Other than that, this week felt slightly like the last week of school.

We kind of had a feeling that Hermana Martin would be leaving all

week. It was a good week, and a frustrating week. Welcome to

missionary work! There was a lot of work done, just not a lot to come

of it. It is all good though, like I said, change is coming. I am so

excited about everything that will be coming up. :)

It is still hot here. Surprise, surprise. This is going to be an

awesome transfer. And a short one (did I mention that this is a 5 week

transfer? If not I apologize. Because the Castros are leaving we will

have a five week followed by a seven week so everything balances out

with the new President.) Other than that, life is good. Wish there was

more to say, but alas, missionary life remains the same. And I still

love it. Every day there is something that makes me so happy, because

this is such an amazing work. Even the hardest days have the quirkiest

things. Paso sure is a unique place.

All of us decided to add "make friends with a dog" to our weekly goals list, courtesy of our Branch Mission Leader.  This is the dog we made friends with.  He fillowed us around for like 20 minutes, and played with us a bit. :)

Looks like this will be another short post. I suppose this might

become the norm. Sorry about that. (Kind of.) I will try and

compensate with pictures.

A nice, warm summer day in San Miguel, CA

Have a great week everyone.

Do great things.

Hermana Courtney Miller

Mother's Day Call, and Shout Out to Elle!

So, anyone who knows me will not be surprised, but I forgot my camera

chord. Again. But tender mercies are real! Hermana Ah Mu's chord works

on my camera! So you all are in luck, there are pictures!

This post will be a lot of pictures, and not a lot to say. Other than

yesterday's phone call home, it has been a pretty uneventful week! It

has been really windy here. That's cool. (Oh no, I am talking about

the weather... Looks like it is time for some pictures.)

Here we go!

So this terrifying gem, we found while making copies in the church

library. I wish I had more to say about it, but really, it is just one

of the weirdest things I have ever seen. It may or may not be out of a

horror film. We are not sure.

The only acceptable way to eat mac and cheese: out of a champagne

glass. We are just classy like that.

This my dear friends, is the great city of Shandon, CA. 

This photo was taken at fourth and center street. Keep in mind, this city only goes

up to 8th street. This is literally the middle of town. Yeah. I just

laughed. A lot.

I got this amazing treasure this week from the great Elle McCall. 

It is so perfect, and I love it so much. I will for sure wear it all the time. 

(For those who don't know, Alma 29:9 is my plaque scripture.)

We had a service project this weekend out in the field/farm area of
Paso. It was a ton of fun! We had to park down the street, and there
was a field with a horse right next to the car, and when we came back,
the horse trotted right up to us, and let us pet it, and feed it some
grass.

This set of photos is entitled "Selfies With a Horse." Enjoy!

Okay everyone, so maybe that wasn't as many photos as I thought it was

going to be. Sorry!

It really has been a good week, just not a lot to write about it.

Phone calls yesterday were amazing. It was so great to talk to

everyone, and I am sure they loved hearing me butcher some Spanish. Oh

well, it is a work in progress.

I hit my four month mark this week, and that is TERRIFYING. Time is

going by ridiculously fast. I can not believe it. Next week, I will

have some updates about transfers, so I will be sure to let you all

know. I am sure you are just sitting on the edge of your seat! ;)

Make sure if anyone sends anything this week, it goes through the

mission office. Just in case. I mean, I guess you could send something

today or tomorrow, and it would probably get there before I leave, if

I leave. After that though, probs should use the mission office. This

is all.

Wow. e-mails after calls are boring. Yeah.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Hermana Courtney Miller

It's HOT Here!!!

Wow. This week really flew by. I can not believe it is already Monday.

However, with Mother's Day being this weekend, I feel like this week

might drag by. Only time will tell!

So first, oh my goodness, IT IS HOT! Okay, so it isn't the worst. But

it was 105 in San Miguel on Wednesday. And it will just keep getting

worse. Got to love it. I am eternally grateful for air conditioned

cars.

We had exchanges this week. So fun! I went out with Hermana Shmidt,

who was Hermana Martin's companion here in Paso before I came. It was

awesome to finally get to meet her. We met some amazing people, and

braved the heat together. Quality day.

This was truly a week full of Miracles. I don't know if I have

mentioned him before, but we are teaching a 9 year old named Y.

His parents are both members, and now we are teaching him. It is so

much fun getting to teach him. He knows so much already from Primary

and his parents, and getting to teach him is a blast. We get to use

things like white boards, and little games, and all kinds of fun

stuff. He is truly a miracle in our lives. Last Sunday, we also met a

man named C. On exchanges, Hermana Martin and Hermana Higgs got

to have a lesson with him, and they asked us to come back the next

day. We have had three lessons with them since, and they are amazing.

We hope to see some more miracles like them soon! Great week!

So here is another fun story from this week: I can no longer eat any

seafood. So I have had fish/shrimp about 4 times on the mission now,

and every time it makes me more and more sick. This last weekend I had

Shrimp pasta, and we had to run home so I could take bennydryl. Thank

heavens we had some in the apartment! But anyway, after a fun night of

locked jaw and bad breathing, there will be no more seafood for me! I

am sure my Dad and Brother will be proud.

Well, I wish there was more to write, but other than that all I can

say is it has been a great week. I can not wait to see what this week

has in store!

Hermana Miller.

Tough Week!

Well, wish there was more to write this week, but there isn't really a

ton to report. Still can't believe Marissa is getting married. She is

officially on my bad list!

Last night we were looking at our numbers, and were not happy at all,

and we knew the zone leaders had wanted to talk to us about how our

week had been going and about zone goals, so we went out and went hard

in the paint. We got 9 declarations, which are basically door

approaches, or first time we talked to someone, which brought us up to

20 for the week, which is the "standard of excellence" for the

mission. So that felt really nice. We felt like the zone leaders had

been on our case for a few weeks. So that shut them up really fast. ;)

Now the moment we have all been waiting for. MOTHERS DAY. Yes, there

is still a week or so, but we have to be prepared. It looks like the

only time we will be able to call is after church. Due to time

changes, Hermana Martin is going to take the first hour, and I will

take the second one. It will be right around 6:00 our time, and I will

have about an hour. That should be at 8:00 your time. Middle of

the day church makes things difficult. If that doesn't work for you

let me know.

The work is moving forward here in Paso Robles. Between us, and the
other Hermanas, we want so badly to make a difference here, and so the
last half of this transfer is going to be dedicated to that. We have
exchanges tomorrow, so that will be an exciting thing to look forward
to, and hopefully we will get to see some miracles happen.

Can't wait to see what this week brings!

Talk to you all soon.

Tell Marissa I need details ASAP

Court

Easter Week

What a week! I have a lot of pictures, and a lot to say, so hold on to

your seat belts, because we are going for a ride!

This week really did start out like any other, and I guess there is

not really a lot to report on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

The random stuff you find in Paso. This made me extremely happy!

Friday, Hermana Martin had her appointment in Morro Bay with the

chiropractor, so we got to trek down there. Have I ever said how much

I love the beach? For those of you who can not fully appreciate the

torture I went through, let me fill you in on a little secret:

Missionaries can not go to the beach. But we did get to admire from

afar, which will have to be enough for a while. 15 months to be exact.

Wow time is flying! Okay, getting back on track now. One miracle we

did see this week happened on our way back from Morro Bay, at In-n-Out

burger of all places. We were waiting for our food, when someone asked

us if we spoke Spanish. We told him yes, and started talking. It turns

out he is one of the nearly inactive members of the branch, that no

one had heard from in nearly 6 months. We were able to find out where

he is living now, and a little bit about his situation, and hopefully

will get to visit with him soon. It was just such a great case of

being in the right place at the right time, I know the spirit guided

us there for a reason. And partially for the double double animal

style. The voice of Steve Miller was popping into my head as I ordered

this. :) But lots of fun pictures and such from Morro.

Yay for Morro Bay!

It's Casual

The last view of the beach for a while (sigh.)

After Morro we got a chance to go on Mormon.org. My profile is up and

running, so you should all check it out:

www.mormon.org/me/DRVS

Also, and amazing gem from this last Easter Weekend:

www.mormon.org/becauseofhim

I really hope that video is still up. It is so powerful, and such an

amazing video about Christ. I am in love with it.

Then the real highlight of this week was Saturday. We had our

conference with Elder Russel M Nelson. We had to leave Paso at around

8:30 in the morning, and spent a lot of time in the car getting there.

We scheduled enough time to get some lunch there, so what else would

we get besides Chipotle? We then had our mission conference. We got to

hear from President and Sister Castro, as well as Elder and Sister

Bowen of the 70, and Elder and Sister Garnes, also of the 70. Then

Sister Nelson gave an amazing talk on missionary work, and then it was

Elder Nelsons turn. We all expected him to give a wonderful talk, but

instead went up, and said, "I would like to talk to you today, but

first, does anyone have any questions." It then turned into this

amazing hour and a half question and answer session. Not only were

Elder Nelsons answers truly inspired, but I was blown away by his

eloquence and knowledge. I know I had so many questions answered, and

I am sure others in the mission feel the same. Trying to pick a

highlight from my 6 pages of notes is impossible, but just know it was

great, and a lot of fun. He loves to tell fun stories, and laugh as

well, so it was a great time. I can not get over how amazing it was. I

forgot to say, as well, at the beginning of the conference, we all got

to shake all of their hands. Truly an amazing experience. On the way

back, of course we had to stop at Panera (would you expect any less?)

ROAD TRIP

 8 hours later, and our lovely driver was still holding strong!

I laugh because everyone who wrote this week asked about Easter. I

wish I had something to report, but I really don't. Welcome to a small

Spanish Branch. We sang the two Easter Hymns in the Spanish Hymn book,

but that is about as easter-y as it got. The talks weren't on Easter,

the lessons werent, really nothing to set it apart from any other

Sunday. I didn't even get any deviled eggs! What a shame! But the work

goes on!

After this weekend, Hermana Martin and I are ready to go out, and go big!

Happy Easter Weekend from Ventura! -- Hermana Martin and Hermana Miller

Here we go week three of the transfer!

Happy Monday everyone!

Hermana Miller

(ps. I promised I would get better at writing more!)

Really Feeling Your Prayers!

I appreciate all of the support I have from all of you reading this.  I can feel it all the way over here.  It is such an amazing thing.  

True joy is a full mailbox after a long day. :)

This has been such a great week, and I know the coming week will be great as well.  I can hardly wait for this weekend.  Friday, my companion has to go see a chiropractor named Dr. John Watson.  I wish I was kidding. (Sherlock fans!)  When I found out his name, I laughed for about an hour, on and off.  It still makes me giggle like the little nerd I am every time I say it.  He is down in Morro Bay, which I am super pumped about, because I will finally get to see the beach again!  

This is what happens when you get lost in Paso. Gorgeous! 

Then, on Saturday, we have our Mission Conference with Elder Nelson.  It will be about 6 hours on the road, but with the girls I am with, that is going to be the best thing ever!  Not to mention, there is a Panera on the way.  Hallelujah!  Prayers really are answered!  :)

But I really am super excited.  I can not wait to write all about it next week. 

Diet-besity, salad style

The new district

The Hermana next to me is from Blue Springs!  Yay for Kansas Citians!  We discovered that we were in the Temple Cultural Celebration together.

Love you all!

Okay, I am over on time now.

This hour FLEW BY!

Talk to you next week.

Write letters!

Court

Oops I did it again!

Cut it all off for summer

Transfers--Staying in Paso Robles

What is up everyone!?

Time is flying around here! Today is officially the first day of a new transfer! We got calls this morning, and both Hermana Martin and I are staying here in Paso Robles. I am so excited! I would have been really mad if they tried to take her or this area away from me. I am absolutely in love with it, and time is going by way too fast.

This is the view from the front door of one of our investigators. Have I mentioned that I am glad to be staying?

I wish there was a lot more to report around here, but we just wound down the transfer last week. Pretty standard. We are super excited to start this new transfer. It is great to have this fresh start and a new 6 weeks!

This last week between the four of us Hermanas we got the chance to go out and visit every member of the branch, which was so much fun. I love getting to know them all better! But because of that there are not too many other stories to report.

What a wonderful sight. Our investigator A. is the best!

Three day old kittens. I may or may not have cried just a little bit. It was pure joy!

I can hardly believe it is already April! General Conference was so amazing this weekend! I have never gotten so many answers and felt so inspired! Around here we are not allowed to watch it in members homes, so we got to watch it up at the chapel. I loved the atmosphere there, so it was great. We had district lunches in between sessions as well, so it was great to get to know our elders a little bit better. Still don't know of them who is staying and who is going. Hermana Corniea is being transferred, and Hermana Rubow is staying.

Paso Robles District

Hermana Rubow is obviously a sports star!

Every week I say I am going to get better as far as things to report, and every week I have a short post, so I apologize. I hope that as we start this new transfer we will have some more fun information.

 I do have some pictures from this week, so no fear there. 

Hope all is great wherever you are!

Love you all

Hermana Courtney Miller