New Area, New Adventures!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great week.

Oxnard is such a great area. The work here is crazy busy, and we get

to speak Spanish practically all day. I am blissfully happy with all

of that. We get fed a TON too.  I swear, I have had rice and beans at least two meals a day since I have been here.  We ate Carne Asada with a spoon and our fingers this week. Sister Felix would have been appalled. Oh, the adventures of Spanish work. 

Elote (I hope that's how you spell it.) I am addicted.

And... Its gone.

Hermana Eames is great. I love her a lot. 

This is what happens when we can't figure out what to do with our hands

This week we served some of the members here in this area, with

gardening, and cleaning and all kinds of stuff. The Just Serve project

this weekend was good as well. We worked repainting school gyms at

Port Hueneme High School, and it was a lot of fun. We wished there had

been more paint and brushes, but we made do. They had a big BBQ for us

afterwards, and it was just a lot of fun.

We saw a lot of miracles this week, and

are excited to see where the work is going to take us the rest of this

transfer. I am still trying to get to know the area, and all of our

investigators, which always takes some time, but I am excited to see

what comes next. I love working with Hermana Eames, and I love this

area.

District Pictures are the best

Stake Conference with the apartment. I love them so much!

I apoligize this is so short this week! Lots of e-mails, so little time.

I hope all is well with you all!

I love you lots!

Hermana Courtney Miller

Meeting Her American Idol

So, what an exciting weekend it has been! I suppose I should start

with Saturday transfer calls. I found out that I will be going to

Oxnard to be with Hermana Eames. I am so excited! She is a theater

arts studies major at BYU with an emphasis in directing. She is goofy,

and fun, and awesome, and we are going to have an awesome transfer

together. I am pumped! Oxnard isn't ready for this! :)

The closest you will ever get to a serious picture of the two of us.

Lex. The amazing, wonderful, wacky, crazy lady in all of her Glory.

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Dummer. You can decide who is who.

(Really Sister Harrison and Lex and me. We are three peas in a pod.

Its terrifying. That is why both of us are leaving this area.)

Now, the more exciting part of the weekend. So about a week ago they

told us about this mission conference that was going to be happening

on April 19th. However, no one would tell us what it was about, what

was going on, anything. No one knew. Not the assistants, not the

mission presidency counselors, no one. So we all show up last night

totally confused. We all get seated, and President and Sister Felix

walk in. Behind them was David Archuleta. Casual. For those of you who

weren't teeny bopper mormon girls circa American Idol season 7, it

looks like it is time for a little google search. It was hysterical.

You should have seen all of the Sisters faces. Hermana T and I were

laughing so hard. But he gave an awesome devotional last night. He

shared some scriptures, would talk about them for a bit, and then

would sing a song that goes with it. Oh my goodness. That boy can

SING! It was such an incredible meeting. He talked a lot about being a

successful missionary and how that contributes into life after the

mission. We all got to take pictures with him, which hopefully my mom

will post with this. :) He is such a nice, sweet guy. I talked to him

for a little bit while we were getting everything set up for the

picture. Which then got me the spot right next to him. All of the

sisters in the zone hate me. I love it. Anyway, that was for sure the

highlight of the week. SO GOOD!

Got to stand RIGHT NEXT to him!!

So, I figured I would post to all of you part of what I sent to

President Felix this week. Disclaimer: I am so not a poet. I just

thought it was witty.

Twas the night before transfers and all through the mission,

All the missionaries were stirring, trying frantically their packing to finish.

The bags were all piled by the door without care,

In hopes that their transfer rides soon would be there.

The sisters all slumber, all tucked in their beds,

With visions of David Archuleta serenading them swimming through their heads.

The mission all a buss, there is a change coming:

New areas, new companions, new adventures. Let's hit the ground running!

One last check, can't leave anything behind,

There's no turning back now, there's new adventures to find.

From Agoura to Oxnard the adventure goes on,

New transfer, new beginnings, it's all a new dawn.

The sun is rising on what will be a glorious 6 weeks.

Find. Teach. Baptize. It's after the Spirit we seek.

My new companion seems awesome, the area great,

But man, 8:45 training meeting? Hope I'm not late.

If I've learned one thing through the last month or so,

It's that the lessons we learn are all to help us grow.

I can't wait to apply all I've learned over my time in the field,

To keep going strong and find out what the harvest will yield.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, sometimes good, sometimes funny,

But in the Great California Ventura Mission, it is always sunny!

I hope you all have a great week. I love you all.

Hermana Courtney Miller

Short Update

Hello Everyone! Sorry this is so lame! I have like no time today!

District hike

Agoura is doing well. I had an awesome exchange this week with Hermana

Winn. I love her so much. We had a ton of fun, and were able to find a

new investigator, and do some service, which was great. She is such an

awesome missionary. It was an awesome day. We had a cool idea that we

did yesterday in sacrament meeting. We asked the bishop if it would be

okay if we and some others bore our testimony in Spanish and

translated it. We shared ours, and one of the members we invited did

as well (the others did not.) The ward really enjoyed it, but it

sounds like it will just be a one time thing. I. is still doing

well, we got to go to Stake Conference with him yesterday in Thousand

Oaks. The branch there is so strong, and it was awesome to see the

fellowship he has there, and the strength of the hispanic members

there. It was neat as well that B. bore his testimony in Spanish.

He is a good friend of I. and I think it was neat for him to be able

to hear what he had to say. Headsets are great, but being able to hear

it from the pulpit is a whole different story.

Kansas hick!

Looking cool

Anyway, life is good in California! I love you all! Stay awesome!

Hermana Courtney Miller

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had an awesome Easter!

Happy Easter!

From, the Agoura/Westlake district

Our cute Easter Baskets from the ward!

Agoura Spanish is doing good. We had some awesome miracles this week,

which we are both grateful for. We met this really cool man the other

day while we were walking in his apartment complex. We were walking

down the stairs, and he was waiting to go up, so we got out of his way

to let him up, and then Hermana T stopped him and asked if we could

give him a card. Turns out he just moved to the area to get a new

start, and try and turn his life around. He grew up catholic, but has

been looking for a different church, and we talked a bit about our

beliefs, and Easter, and he was excited to watch the video. He

welcomed us back, and is interested in learning more. It was awesome.

The Because he Lives campaign was incredible that way. We were able to

share it with people this week who were really interested in watching

it. (Including the cashier at Taco Bell. I don't think I have ever

seen anyone so excited to watch a video about the life of Christ. It

was awesome.) 

Here is a link to the video.  It is only 2 1/2 mins long!

Because He Lives

We were also able to have another lesson with B. this

week. She says she still hasn't gotten an answer about baptism, but

that she would go to conference, and see what kind of impressions she

gets. She hadn't ever watched conference before, even though she has

gone to church for years, and wasn't quite sure what it would be like.

She said this at about 6:30 on Saturday night, so we had her daughter

get out her iPad, and we watched President Monson's talk from the

priesthood session with her. It gave her faith that she would be able

to get an answer from watching on Sunday morning. It was so awesome.

We meet with her about once a week, because of her crazy schedule, so

we will be sure and follow up with her on that this week. I. is

still doing good as well. We hit a bit of a snag this week when we

took a member from the TO branch with us. He told I. that

because he is just learning to read, that he should not be reading the

Book of Mormon, but instead read the Gospel Principles manual, or

something like that. We tried to say otherwise, but there is so much

trust between those two, that we have some work to do. It was an

interesting lesson. But really, the work here has been moving forward,

which we are both grateful for. We saw miracles, and worked hard, and

it was a good week.

Our car broke down this week (twice actually) so we had the Elders

car. This is why it is dangerous to have the car at the church on

April Fools day. The Elders loved it!

I am so grateful for this week and this transfer and all it is

teaching me. I can see myself growing into the person that Heavenly

Father wants me to be, and although it isn't always fun, it is exactly

what needs to be happening. I am so eternally grateful for that

knowledge. I loved conference this weekend, and I love being a

missionary. I can't think of words to express how grateful I am for my

Savior and the opportunity that we had this weekend to remember him

with the Easter holiday, and to try again every day to be more like

him. It is incredible. I love being his missionary.

Classy

I love each and every one of you, and hope that you are all doing

well. Time is flying. That is something I was reminded of this week.

So go out and seize the day. You never know what Tomorrow has in

store! Go be awesome!

Hermana Courtney Miller

#He Lives

Hello Everyone!

Agoura/Thousand Oaks/Westlake is great. It really is a great area, and

has a lot of potential.

We went on a hike last week up to the filming location of MASH. It was awesome!

Have you all seen the Easter Video Because He lives? If not, stop what

your doing and watch it right now. It is only like 2 minutes!

helives.mormon.org

Did you watch it yet???

I love it. The video is so powerful, and as we have watched it with

our members, and LARCs (Less Actives and Recent Converts), the spirit has been so strong, and it has been

incredible to see. The power of what Christ did for us might be

something we can never fully understand, but we can feel it in our

lives no matter what. Our investigator, I., was sick this week, so we were only able to

teach him once, but we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and

committed him to pray every day this week about baptism, so we are

excited to see what happens with that. We saw a super cool miracle

yesterday with our investigator B! Her daughter is a member in our

ward, and B. has been going to church regularly for the last 7

years! The last 2 years, she has been going to the TO (Thousand Oaks) branch, and she

loves it so much. We had been trying to meet with her all transfer,

but had not been able to get ahold of her. Yesterday, though, her

daughter came up to us at church and told us that she wanted us to

come by that evening. We went by and talked with her for a bit. She

was actually the one that brought up baptism, and talked about how she

just hadn't been able to make up her mind on it. We committed her to

praying about it this week, and also to watch General Conference, and

told her that if she goes with that specific question in mind, she

will be able to get her answer. She knows she can, and is going

forward with faith. We are so excited to see what happens there. It

was such an awesome miracle. We were both really happy about it. She

is already keeping all of her commitments, reading, praying, going to

church, everything! All that is missing is baptism! She knows that is

the next step too. She just need to do it! Whew, that's a lot. Sorry!

Sister Hunsaker and me

Sister Hunsaker, Sister Israelsen and me

Did I mention how excited I am for General Conference?! I literally

can not wait! I will have a lot of fun things to write about it next

week!

(Mom's note:General Conference is a semi-annual conference of our church, held on Salt Lake City, but broadcast to the world.  We hear from our prophet, and other leaders of the church.  It can be viewed on BYUTV, or online at lds.org.  There are several sessions.  The women's session was last Saturday, and can already be viewed online.  There are sessions this coming Saturday at 11:00, 3:00, and 7:00 and Sunday at 11:00 and 3:00)

This week, a lot of the ward members have started to reach out to us

for different service opportunities, which is awesome! One thing I

have seen a lot in my mission is that if we start by serving the

members, we gain their trust, and then allow us to help serve their

friends, and it is just the beginning of an awesome chain of events. I

am excited to see what happens.

I am excited to see what this week brings, and to have General

Conference. What an awesome time of year!

I hope you have a great week! I love you all so much! Stay awesome!

The greatest feeling in the whole world. A finished rubik's cube. WOOOOOOOOOO!

Hermana Courtney Miller

"It is so LA-ish"

Hello everyone!

Agoura is great. It is so LA-ish. (Did I say that last week?) I really

do love this area. We have this awesome investigator I. who we are

teaching right now. He had a baptismal date before I got here, but has

since decided that he doesn't feel ready. We are just going really

slowly all the way from the beginning, and trying to make sure he

understands everything that we teach him. He is starting to really

retain the information, which we are grateful for. He says that he has

been praying every day about baptism, but still isn't sure. He has a

lot of pressure from his family who don't want him to get baptized, so

I am hoping that that will not hold him back too badly. Other than

that it has been a bit of a slow week, but not too bad. We are really

trying to work with the Spanish Unit less actives that live in our

area, which we are really grateful for. We are trying really hard to

find all of our investigators, and to teach them, but our schedules

have just not been lining up yet. The Lord knows us perfectly, and

knows exactly what we need. He is truly in charge!

Happy St Pattys day from Hna T and Hna Miller!

This week, my testimony has been strengthened again on how keenly God

is aware of what we are going through. Saturday was a really rough

day, and we weren't sure what to do. It had kind of pushed me to the

edge, and I was having a harder time than Hermana T. We just pulled to

the side of the road, and prayed. A lot. The overwhelming feeling I

got was just that of knowing that our Heavenly Father loves me, and

knows exactly what is happening here, and that he is in charge. I am

reminded of the Mormon Message about the gardener and the current bush

(I believe it is Elder Christopherson speaking, talking about Hugh B.

Brown, if mom would want to include the link) The message that the

Lord is the great gardener here, and that he is in charge, and he is

directing everything in my life. This is a message I have been

reminded of a lot this week. He loves me enough to try me, and trusts

me enough to know I will make the best out of it. Now I just have to

go do just that: my best.

Here's the link to the talk.

As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten

I am so grateful to be a missionary. This is truly an awesome, miracle

filled work. I am grateful for this Easter season, and the opportunity

to focus everything back to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and all that he

did for us. I know that his atonement and sacrifice is exactly enough

for what we need, and that as we rely on it, we will be able to do

whatever the Lord asks of us. I love this work. I love this mission. I

love each one of you! Have an awesome week!

Thanks for the package, mom!

Hermana Courtney Miller

Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, oh my!

So firstly, our area is HUGE! And we live in Newbury Park, about a 20

minute drive in Southern California traffic from it. Always such an

adventure. Patience is a virtue. That's what I have learned this week!

Miller Time! Me, Hermana Miller, and Elder Miller

Here are some pictures from before transfers, still in Ojai.

We went on a hike in Ojai our last day. It was incredible.

This happened.

I love this area though. It really is the epitome of Southern

California. (If that is even a thing.) It is a lot of fun. We have

spent a lot of time this week just trying to find our investigators, and

figure things out with the ward and everything. Hopefully, we will be

into more of a routine next week! We do have a couple of investigators

that are progressing, and a recent convert who was baptized last week,

so there is definitely work to be done.

Whooooooooo lives in a pinapple.... in a trailer park...?

The one, the only, Sister Hiland

Hermana Tauiliili is great, she is such a riot. She is originally from

Hawaii, although most of her family lives in Independence now. We are

enjoying our time together, and it will be a fun transfer.

Sister Currie was headed home this week, so obviously, we went and got

FroYo first. Always a party!

Time is really short this week, I am sorry! But I hope everything is

great with you all!

Love you lots!

Hermana Courtney Miller

(Pic: Happy Pi day everyone! We celebrated with Pizza and general

conference on DVD)