GRAND FINALE - 9 September 2024

Well everybody, the time has come. My final email is off and away. I honestly don't know what to say because I never imagined this day before! I still have 2 more full days of missionary work and I'm so incredibly grateful for these last moments I'll have as a missionary of the Lord in the greatest work known to man. 

To write about this last week again for some reason these past 3 weeks have kinda just mushed together. We have spent so much time finding and teaching. Seriously everyday we are at a grocery store from 1pm-5pm and it is a grind! It's so fulfilling at the end of the day when you know you've worked the hardest you could. That's what I've been trying to do with my last few weeks, work harder than I've ever worked.

Some fun things that have been happening is we've been able to find a few super cool people. Hopefully they progress after I'm gone. We've had a few lessons with our most progressing friends which has been good. We went to the library for Nadia who I was hoping would get baptized before I left but it looks like she'll have to wait till the end of September but I should be able to join her baptism over zoom! Most other lessons with everyone else however have been canceling on us. It's frustrating when you've got a whole night of lesson but none of them show up. But none the matter, it gave us more time to go try and find more people to teach.

Sunday was my last church service in Virginia for a while and I don't even know what to think! I am actually super sad but it still doesn't feel like I'm done. I feel like I'll just get transferred to a new area and start missionary work all over again. But I got to say goodbye to lots of members who I enjoyed. One even wrote down my address in case they ever are in AZ, they might stop by which would be so sweet! 

Today was my last pday so everyone in the district wanted me to decide what to do. We ended up going to top golf and lunch! It was a blast! It's actually super sad to say goodbye to all of them because we've had so much fun as a district! Lots of people are leaving the district too, I'm going home, one missionary is going to a new area and another is actually flying to Japan this week! So needless to say we are all sad to say goodbye! 

OK well I don't really know how to end something so good like a mission, I'm nervous for the future but am so excited to see all my family and friends. I'm nervous to start school and work but I know the lord will direct as I continue building spiritually after I return. A mission is one of the greatest things on this earth, it has brought me so many trials but so much joy, true joy, because of the atonement of christ. Before I left on my mission I knew the church was true but I'd never fully applied the atonement in my life. Well on my mission I learned how to do that, I've seen so many friends apply the atonement in their lives that It actually made it real to me. Jesus Christ is our savior, meaning without him we would be completely lost and forgotten but because of the sure knowledge we have of his life and ministry and sacrifice, we have hope to know that if we turn to him and give him our hearts, we will be saved and gifted eternity with our loving father in heaven. I hope you all know that and know that I know of a surety of that very principle! I love you all! And I hope to see and talk to everyone of you again! 

-Elder Gavin Milius 

P.s. I'm giving my homecoming talk this Sunday at 8:30am (Mountain Standard). Here is the address, I'd love to see all who can come there! 

555 S Recker Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85296

I GOT HEATSTROKE, I THINK - 2 September 2024

Yo what is up everyone! Another fantastic week for ya to hear about!! There wasn't much crazy things that happened, it was mostly just finding and teaching but it was good with it all!! 

We did have an exchange with our zone leaders on Tuesday but lemme tell you, I almost died! I had to bike for the exchange which I wasn't super upset because I knew this would be my last time biking so I just went along. But it ended up being one of the hottest days of the year!! I was dripping in sweat all day and a couple times I fell behind my zone leader by a mile or two and it just crossed my mind to just turn back and go to the apartment. Fortunately I pulled through and ended up reaching each spot but I ran out of water so quick. Ended up getting some Gatorade and some water and just sat under a tree cooling the back of my neck off with the water. Then the entire time my legs were cramping like crazy so I said like 4 of the most desperate prayers praying to be healed. Ended up like slowly making my way back to the apartment at the end of the day and once I was back home, I crashed on the couch! 

Then the next day I was so sick! I felt so bad but I just chugged up on some Gatorade and sat in the car while my companion went out finding cause I was so dead. 

Other than the exchange we had lots of finding and lots of teaching throughout the week. We actually met a family of 7 who we were able to put on date to be baptized! It was so cool to teach an entire family so come the 28th of Septemberthey should be entering the waters of baptism!!! 

Alright that wraps up all I have to share from the week, I hope everyone had an amazing week as well! Love everyone and see yall super soon!! 

-Elder Gavin Milius 

 

ANOTHER WEEK BITES THE DUST! - 26 August 2024

Hello hello hello!!! It is a great day here in Virginia and a great day everywhere! This email might be a little shorter than others but I'm making sure I get every email out before I come home which is so soon! 

Anyways our week was a pretty chill one. Nothing too crazy happened, most of our lessons fell through and we weren't able to find that many people but we stay grinding! Our friends are all still super super awesome, most things have stayed the same with them. 

We did have a lesson with Jason who is on date for middle of September and it was an incredible lesson. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and everything we taught made so much sense to him. He comes from a catholic background and so he explained what he was taught with Adam and eve but when we taught what we believed about Adam and eve, it was like a spark just lit! We told him how what eve did wasn't a bad thing and that it all happened so that we could be here on earth and I mean he just was illuminating the entire time, in awe about how we view our lives. Then when it came to the idea of Celestial, terrestrial and Telestial heavens, he literally said HOLY CRAP! as we were sharing it. Then he goes on to explain that he's had questions his whole life about how he doesn't feel like God would punish people to eternal suffering and fire and brimstone if they don't make the mark and so his entire life he's rejected hell. So when he found out that we believe everyone on earth will recieve a glory in heaven he just knew it was true! He's known this was true his whole life, he just never knew where to find it till now. The spirit was so strong the entire lesson and I'm excited to keep working with him while I can! 

Anyways that's the big highlight of the week, we've got exchanges this week with our Zone Leaders and a few lessons scattered throughout the week so hopefully if all goes well, this next week will be more successful than this past week! But I'm so happy to be here in Virginia right now, i would want to be anywhere else doing anything different! This is the greatest work on earth!! Love yall stay cool and in school!! 

-Elder Milius 

SORRY I MISSED LAST WEEK…19 August 2024

OK so a lot has been going on these past couple of weeks! Sorry I didn't get the chance to write about it last Monday. Me and my companion had the incredible opportunity to go to kings dominion for our Pday which was a blast!!!! But let's get into what happened my past couple weeks.

So to start it off great, our friend Faith got baptized!!!!!! And the baptism was so awesome, we didn't have to do anything, her mom did it all for us basically! It was awesome!! God seriously blessed us with this baptism cause for years missionaries have tried to get her baptized but finally she said she was ready when we came into the area!!! 

We also have a great amount of other friends progressing towards baptism. We did have to push back a baptism that was gonna happen this last Saturday just cause he wasn't ready yet. But we have 4 solid friends who are progressing towards being baptized and it's awesome!!! 

Our friend Nadia is still solid for her baptism on the 12th of September,  we have to finish teaching everything which has been a struggle with them but pray for her and her mom that we will be able to get lessons scheduled! Last Sunday actually, our mission president and his wife showed up to our service at church and so Nadia and her mom got to meet our president! It was pretty cool!!

Jason is on date for the 7th and he is seriously a miracle friend. He had been found about 3 months ago, said he was interested in church but never picked up the phone until finally one day after he missed our call again for like the 8th week in a row, he texted saying he was coming to church! We then got everything set up and started teaching him. He said he read a little of the Book of mormon one night as well and just felt the spirit so strong, more strong than he has ever felt with the Bible! He is so cool and it's so crazy that just out of the random, he texts us saying he was coming to church and now he is gonna get baptized!!! Miracles are real!

Connor is the kid we are teaching, he's actually really funny and it's never a normal lesson when we teach him. It's always fun to go meet with him. He is the one who we pushed his date back because he isn't ready yet but come end of September he'll be getting baptized!!!

Ben is our other friend we are teaching, he is so funny and we have such a fun relationship with him. We literally text him like we are best friends! Which I mean we are to be honest! He has such a big desire to be baptized but has some struggles right now. All he needs is one miracle to allow him to be baptized, so please pray for him that he may recieve that sooner rather than later. We haven't had the chance to meet with him this week but we've got a lesson set up this week so hopefully when we show up he'll tell us the miracle has happened!! 

But that's about all our friends who are super progressing right now. We are struggling to find new people to teach but we just have such a solid teaching pool that I haven't worried too much about that. 

I had my departing interview with my mission president yesterday which was kinda crazy and didn't feel real. It still doesn't feel like that was my last interview with him. I was super sad after I finished it though, I am and will be forever grateful for President Hutchison. He is one of the greatest leaders and is so spirit led in his work. I fully sustain him and his calling, during my interview I received so many answers to questions about home, I have been so nervous about my future ever since I got out on my mission and I finally feel hopeful and content with what I need to do come middle of September. 

Speaking of which I am getting down to my last few weeks here in Virginia and as much as I'm excited to see my family again and be back in AZ, I'm truly gonna miss Virginia in all it's beauty, I'm sure everyone says that about their missions but it's true. I'm sad that I won't ever get this opportunity to do what I do again. Which is why I'm gonna make these last few weeks count!!! 

Anyways it's always great to talk to yall! I hope everyone has a fantastic week wherever they are. I'm gonna try and get every email out these next few weeks so I don't miss anymore weekly emails lol! 

-Elder Milius

BEGINNING MY LAST TRANSFER - 5 August 2024

Hello everyone!! Sorry I didn't send an email last Monday, we went to the temple a couple weeks back and I sent one then but didn't feel like sending another 4 days later lol. But here we are for another email. My time is getting shorter and shorter and it's crazy to think that just a few more weeks and I'll be in the hot desert again. But none the matter, I'm still lucky enough to be here in Virginia doing what is most important to me and God! So let's get right into my week!

Nothing crazy has been happening other than my last transfer officially starting. We've had lots of changes throughout the mission but I'm lucky enough to stay with my companion for another transfer! We've got a few baptisms lined up for the transfer that I am super excited for. In fact by the end of this next week we should have our friend faith getting baptized!! I'm so pumped!! 

We had an awesome dinner with another one of our friends who is getting baptized, her name is Nadia and she is doing fantastic, they haven't come to church In a little bit but they are super solid with the ward! They have been fellowshiped better than any other friend I've seen so I know that once she is baptized, she will be met with a family she never knew she had! The only issue we are running into is that they are super busy so we struggle meeting with them but I know once school starts, we'll be able to crack down with them!

We had to clean our apartment like crazy this week cause we are actually moving apartments at the end of this month so we've been packing things up and stuff like that so that it'll be easy to move when we have to. 

We have another friend who is getting baptized on the 17th, his name is connor, he is another kid but he's super cool. His parents have been so nice and hopefully come the 17th he will be ready. He's on the spectrum but when he is taught something he will remember it for a while! The only issue is he has a hard time staying still to listen. But we are going over there this week so hopefully we'll be able to get him situated for the 17th, but please pray for him and us 😅

Other than the 3 friends who are solid for baptism, we've got some more people we've found that are super cool and could potentially get baptized soon! One of them is named Ben and a couple days ago we had an awesome lesson about baptism and the blessings from it. He knows he is gonna be baptized but it's just a matter of when. He has a buddy who is serving a mission and gets back next may and he wants to baptize Ben but we told Ben that is these blessings are something he truly needs right now then he shouldn't have to wait until that day comes to recieve them! He enjoyed the lesson a lot and for the next week we invited him to pray about it and see what God thinks. 

We also had another friend who we just randomly called one Saturday to invite to church and wouldn't you know, he came to church on Sunday! He really enjoyed it too, said he hasn't been to church in a while and wanted to learn more! 

Other than that we've been having the usual stuff we have to take care of at the beginning of the transfer, we've got zone conference tomorrow which I will be giving my departing testimony in. I'm super nervous because I never thought this day would actually come! But I'm excited so you'll hear more about that next week. We've got exchanges scheduled through this month and interviews scheduled for the 20th of August, where I'll have my departing interview with president Hutchison. Kinda crazy everything has brought me to this point but I'm insanely happy to be here to witness God's work for another 6 more weeks here in Virginia! 

Anyways, love yall, keep killing it with whatever your up to. Be God's best version of you! Talk to you in the next one! 

-Elder Milius

TEMPLE PDAY THIS WEEK - 24 July 2024

The temple is finally back open after the renovations inside and so we as a district got the chance to go to the temple today!!!

Also super super big thank you to all who sent birthday wishes yesterday! Birthdays on the mission can be a drag sometimes but it was an awesome day to be alive!!

So to jump into the past week and a half, we have had lots of good things coming for us. We've started meeting with this girl who wants to be baptized and we've gone over a few times to teach her all the principles before her baptism. We've got an incredible relationship with this family and I'm super excited to see her enter into a covenant with God. In fact for my birthday they had us over for a lesson and dinner and they ended up making me cupcakes and lit a candle and sang happy birthday to me so it was so so nice to be there for that!! 

We had exchanges with our zone leaders this past week which was lots of fun. We drove around downtown Richmond, found lots of interesting people, had delicious dinner from a restaurant off main street and just had the time of our lives doing missionary work! I will never forget the many things I saw and heard, I mean cmon, it's downtown Richmond Virginia, full of some of God's funniest, most awkward, kindest, most interesting people! It's awesome!!

Another thing I got to do is, as district leader I get to interview people before they are baptized and it is one of my favorite things to do. To sit down with someone who is ready to make a covenant and just hear their conversion story. So as our mission is striving to baptize weekly, that means I get to meet lots of people who are ready for baptism! It honestly changes my perspective on finding because some of the people I've met have literally been found in some of the most random circumstances ever, like at a gas station or a subway parking lot or a dollar tree! It's so cool. 

Speaking of baptisms, as we finish this transfer in a week, I'm super excited to help all the miracle people we've found get baptized, 2 of which are very promising and if God continues to work, we could have 2-4 more people make a covenant these next 6 weeks! One of them is awesome, she has been coming to church and has been felloshipped like none other! The ward has taken her and her mom in as their own and I'm so grateful that we have such an awesome ward where our friends feel so comfortable at church and at activities! So as long as we can get a steady appointment, come September she will be ready for baptism!! 

Other than those friends, there isn't much new updates on anyone else. We have been trying out new methods of finding as walmart is pretty much completely dry and we've been kicked out plenty of times that we probably need to give it a few months to rest. Our other finding spots like food lion and gas stations are just tense when we go. We have to go at certain times for it to work well. But we've been getting into knocking doors at night and visiting people as well as just turning off the car, grabbing the bikes and hitting the road talking to everyone as we bike by. That's the one thing I'm worries about with this next transfer is the struggle it might be to find. But I know God won't stop the work as long as we are willing to get out and talk to everyone. 

Sorry this email is kinda long but I read a cool scripture the other day and with us being kicked out constantly I thought it was relatable! It's Mormon 8: 21-22...

"21 And he that shall breathe out wrath and strifes against the work of the Lord, and against the covenant people of the Lord who are the house of Israel, and shall say: We will destroy the work of the Lord, and the Lord will not remember his covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel—the same is in danger to be hewn down and cast into the fire; 

22 For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled."

I mean that sums up all my thoughts on this topic perfectly. No matter how many times the cops are called, or we get kicked out, or yelled at, or spit on, or chastised for doing what we are doing, God's eternal purpose shall roll on!!!

Anyways sorry for the long email, I hope you have a fantastic week and stay cool if it is hot where you are, because it is very warm here, love yall tons!!!

-Elder Milius 

ALMOST ARRESTED AGAIN - 15 July 2024

What a week! There was lots of highs and lots of lows for this week. It honestly was a pretty crazy week but it was a good one in the end. But how is everyone doing? Hope your having a great Monday. To jump right in let's start with the bad.

So about halfway through the week we had exchanges with some elders in our district. Things we gonna be good but as we started going out finding we ended up getting kicked out of every place we went to, then when the other set of elders went to a finding spot that we had previously been kicked out of, they got the cops called on them and they had a very long situation to figure out with the cops. Fortunately the cops just told them not to come back but ever since that exchange, things have just been so tense with finding. It feels like we are being watched like a hawk. Since the town is so small I feel like everyone knows who we are and has seen us before so everywhere we go it always seems like cops are following us. We also had a member who happened to be a cop chastise us for public contacting. He threatened to call our Mission President and I wanted to just tell him that our mission president is the one encouraging us to do this so your phone call won't get anywhere. 

Anyways that is really all the cruddy part of the week. Finding has been paused for a little. However I think God knew we would struggle with this so he has placed so many people in our paths to help prepare for baptism. On Wednesday we put 2 of our friends on date for baptism which was incredible. We also have a family who we want to put on date this Sunday. Then we kept getting texts and calls from members saying they want their kids baptized and so we've got 2 unbaptized youth who want to prepare soon for baptism which is incredible! This has never happened on my mission. I think God knew I needed some motivation and so he has given us so many opportunities to baptize! I am praying me and my companion stay this next transfer cause for my last transfer, we potentially could have 5 or more people get baptized and what a way to end a mission that would be! Ah I'm enjoying my time very much right now. While day to day can be slow, these past couple months have flown by. Soon ill be 20 and soon ill be giving my departing testimony at zone conference. Soon I'll be meeting with president for my departing interview and soon I'll be getting on a plane leaving all my energy in the mission field. It's a bitter sweet thing to think about but I'm so excited to see how my last couple months of the mission entail for me! God is so good and he is the reason we've had so many miracles. For I am weak and am nothing but with God I can bless lives! 

Anyways I hope yall have a great week! Keep being awesome and don't forget to read your scriptures! 

-Elder Milius