So first of all, thank you again for all the birthday wishes! I literally had the best birthday of my life! It was incredible. So as I said we went to the Alicante castle, and that was incredible! Then later that night we went to some citas and found some potential investigators, then we went to a Noche de Hogar with Lourdes and Hugo (our ward mission leader) and Ventura and Adolfo (recent converts) and a couple other members and it was amazing! We talked for a while, then shared the mormon message ´´Fathers´´and talked about God and family history and it was awesome. Then after we ate dinner and then they brought out my favorite- cheesecake! And sang me ´´feliz cumpleaños´´ and it was an amazing moment. Looking around, surrounded by my family here in Spain, everything felt very complete and full. It was a beautiful moment, my first day meeting Lourdes and Hugo I hoped I would get to spend my birthday with them- and I did! Then after I teared up and thanked them, I have so much love for them, and I know they love me. It was an amazing day!
And this week was the week of finding, as a mission we had a goal to find 888 new investigators- and we saw SO MANY MIRACLES. We found 14 potential investigators and 9 new investigators and met and talked with many other people, I learned so much! We really went through our area book and found new people that were really investigators from years ago!
In our english class there´s a woman named Maria, and she´s incredible, ah i just love her! She´s not a member, last week we shared Romans 8:35-39, and talked about Jesus Christ. She was like, ´´Jesus es como la gasolina divina´´- the divine gasoline. I laughed so hard, but it´s so true! He´s what keeps us going. And that´s what I´m really trying to remember right now, because Saturday President Deere called and I´m leaving Benidorm. Friday night I just broke down (before we got the call) and was bawling in the bathroom, I just cant imagine leaving this place. I can´t lie, I was a little aprehensive to come, but honestly these past six months have been some of the best of my life. I have met literally life long friends here. One of the older members we visit a lot told me he felt like I was his daughter or little sister, ah and I´m just like trying to smile through the tears, I just love these people! And church was the hardest! oh man. I was planning on being pretty strong, but then an hour before church the branch president called and said, ´´Hermana tengo buenas noticias- tiene un discourso hoy!´´ So yeah, the good news was my unprepared talk hahaa. I decided to get up and share my story about why I decided to become a missionary, and testify of Jesus Christ. I shared a few scriptures about how we feel weak, and I talked about how Christ atoned for our sins, but He also felt our pains and weaknesses and inadequacies, and how applying the Atonement in our lives daily helps us overcome the depressive feelings that come from our weaknesses. It was amazing though, because as I was talking I was probably just rambling on, and then our branch president hands me a note that says ´´tiempo!´´´and I knew I was supposed to end. But then I suddenly felt like I needed to share an experience I had on my intercambio Saturday (Hna Heaton came to Benidorm and Hna Garcia went to Alicante to work for a day). We were knocking doors, and suddenly a 19 year old girl opened the door, and there was a dog barking and it seemed a little stressful but she let us come in and we had one of the most incredible lessons I´ve had on my mission. We talked about her family, and she told us she hasn´t talked to them in months, they´re having issues, she just works here in Benidorm. She was telling us how she used to believe in God, but for the past few years she´s lost that belief because people in her family that have passed away and there have been a lot of hard trials that have happened in her life. We just testified that God has a plan for her, and that through Jesus Christ she can find healing and peace. She was like, ´´okay, share this message with me then, I need help!´´ and then we pulled out the Book of Mormon and she was like, ´´Wait, you guys are mormons?´´ and we told her yes, and she told us she went to school with a mormon, ´´Eric!´´ And i was like, I´m sure it´s the Eric in our branch, and turns out it was! And she was like, ´´He taught me about your church a little. I haven´t seen him in a while but I actually have plans to hang out with him tonight!´´ It was incredible, seeing how the example of people just living the gospel and sharing their basic beliefs prepares people to recieve the Gospel later! As I shared that in sacrament meeting I felt the Holy Ghost fill the room and everyone seemed more alert, and I cried and thanked them all and told them their efforts are not in vain. Although not all of us will have the opportunity to see the fruits of those efforts, they are there, and one day we will be able to see what came of the good we did here. It was really incredible too, because with this young girl, she told us she hadnt prayed in a long time, and she was embarrassed to do it. We explained that it´s simple and just a conversation with God, and when she prayed at the end of our cita, Hna Heaton and I were almost in tears. We could feel Heavenly Father looking down on that place, so grateful because He´s been waiting to hear from her for a long time. Ah, it was amazing!
Then we had a great experience after church, one of the members who has been telling us for weeks that she really wants to share the gospel but just doesnt know how, invited one of her friends to church, and after we went to her house to eat and we laughed and talked and then watched the Testaments and talked about Christ visiting the Americas and the Book of Mormon and the member invited her to listen to the missionaries and she said yes! And mind you, this woman has had member friends for years who have tried to get her to listen to the missionaries, ah it was just such a miracle!
Also, since we were going through old investigators in the area book for the week of finding, we found a list of people who went to english class a while ago, so we decided to pass by and reinvite them all to attend the class again! Well we passed by this one man, and we buzzed the outside buzzer thing, that you talk through the speaker to them (i have no idea what the name is) and there was some miscommunication and we thought he was the guy we were looking for but he really wasn´t, but he said he would let us in his building to talk to him face to face about our free english classes. Well we also invited this Ecuatorian man to our church (that was the next day at 10) and he said he would come, AND HE REALLY DID. It was hilarious, being like, there are investigators we´ve worked with for hours and begged them to come to church, and then we talk to this man for 5 minutes in his doorway and he comes the next day with his little 6 yr old girl. It was beautiful!
So yeah. Week of milagros. And last night we met with a guy named Romeo, he´s 25 and so legit! Haha, kinda like a gangster, but who told us he wants to do the things in this life that will please God, and I could feel that he meant it. I love seeing these people with a real intent to find the truth! And last night we met with Ventura and Adolfo in a park and played uno and drank bifrutas (milk-fruit drink) and ate brownies and had such a good time. I am gonna miss these people a ton, but I feel priveleged to have served with them here in this blessed city of Benidorm.
Oh yeah. I didn´t even say where i´m going! I´m going to Málaga! My comps name is Hermana Cameron, and Hna Grant told me when we were together that she absolutely loves her, I´m so excited to serve with her! I think we´re in ward one. And also I get the opportunity to be a sister training leader, which means I get to travel around several cities in Spain and work with several Hermanas in this mission doing intercambios! I´m scared out of my mind. I feel really inadequate. But when i got the news, i just went over into a corner and told Heavenly Father that I didn´t choose this, and that if He was going to call me to it I was going to need His help. And although I´m still super nervous, I know He´ll provide. I need to improve my spanish. I just need to improve overall as a missionary. And I know this will be a good opportunity to do it! So yeah. It´ll be good. And good news, this means I get to do intercambios in Almería! So yeah, I´m going back there and I´m stoked! But yeah. I really do need prayers at this point. And always. But especially now.
Love, Hermana Miller
Jacob 5:47,71-72
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