WRITING SONGS AND BURYING CATS ALSO TRANSFERS!! - 26 December 2022

Well this week has been one the best hectic weeks of my life. With Christmas we had a lot of inviting and a lot of lessons. Also had a lot of fun burying a cat and I also wrote a song, see what happens as a missionary when you have lunch, dinner or just have a break is you get bored and trunky and sometimes you decide to write it down, which is what I did. I wrote a song, played and sang it, recorded it, and now I have a song on my phone of my horrible voice, so that's my update hahaha. 

Transfers is almost here and that means I'm almost officially done with training and I can call myself an actual missionary now! But speaking of transfers! My comp is leaving me and I'm getting a new companion!! His name is Elder Naylor and this will be his last transfer so he will die as a missionary in this area...Hopefully he's not too trunky lolol. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with a guy we just met, first we had to help him move some stuff into his house then we sat down to talk. They have like three dogs and they were all barking at us but he decided to let them loose and run at us. We quickly found out they were not happy at us because they were trying to jump up on us and murder us. One of them actually caught hold of my hand and shredded its teeth on the side of my hand, I straight up had to shake the dog off cause it just latched on so bad. So I started bleeding but the guy we were teaching didn't see it so my dumb thought was to just hide it so he didn't feel bad and we could just share our message and go. My comp ended up talking pretty much the whole time which was nice cause my hand was in so much pain and I was trying not to get blood on my Book Of Mormon or have him see my hand. It was quite a weird situation. Then later that day we went out knocking and we ended up finding a person which means we taught them a principle and set a return appointment. That was very nice, then we talked to this other guy who started asking us deep questions about why we do this, we talked a lot about why we are here and where we are going and the spirit was crazy strong, unfortunately he wasn't interested but it was still a great convo so maybe one day some other elders will knock on his door and he will remember us.

Wednesday we had lunch with an old lady we are friends with and we went to a seafood restaurant, first off, seafood is expensive so we didn't want to get something crazy, but when we told her what we were gonna get she said NO! Y'all aren't gonna get the cheapest thing, get some steaks!! So we ended up ordering steaks. Second off...Never order a steak from a seafood restaurant!! I asked for medium, and got bloody rare! It was gross. But we ended up taking it home and finishing the job ourselves haha. That was pretty much the only thing that was cool from the day, we just had a lot of unsuccessful knocking and a lot of calls but the lord loves effort so we are happy for our diligence 

Thursday we buried the cat....the sisters in the ward next to us told us that some members dog killed her own cat and that she needed help burying it. So we agreed and when I tell you this day was out of a movie, I mean it. It was raining, we were wet, cold, we had to carry it across her yard and bury it in the back, we dug the hole and took a picture, we put the cat in the hole, the member said a prayer, she was crying, we were all just like what is going on. Then one of the sisters pulls out her phone and plays God be with you till we meet again. Then we all took a handful of dirt and threw it in, like the movies, then we buried the cat, had a moment of silence and went home. It was so weird and I had no clue what I was doing with my life in that moment. Later that day we got to go to dinner with an RM and has five guys which slapped, so that was fun. After that we had a lesson with our progressing guy, and the whole point of this lesson was to get him to pray. So we read Enos, talked about prayer, gave him a step by step card on how to pray, and then we each went around and said a prayer. Come to him, he was like trying so hard to remember what to do and how to do it, then he just closed his eyes, bowed his head and said "prayer, I love my family, I love my friends, Jesus is really good, amen." Now you may think, that wasn't the best prayer, but no!!! It was amazing, it was the first time he prayed and it just was so perfect for him, the spirit was so strong and we were so happy. Hopefully we can keep him doing that consistently.

Friday and Saturday were kinda lay back, we had a zone conference with just our zone, it was super fun we had a guy from our mission come and give us a council on being more diligent lol, he just used numbers and said that we should baptize more. Little did he know that we are trying!!!!! But nah it was super fun and it was great to see the zone. Christmas eve we went to Texas roadhouse for the third time in my mission and had some delicious steaks. Then we had some awesome lessons with some people and then spent the rest of the night relaxing cause it was Christmas eve. 

Sunday aka CHRISTMAS!!! Was amazing!!! We woke up, we opened some presents then went to church, we had four people come to church which was so awesome, then we went home talked to our families (hi mom and dad and sisters) then we went out fishing with our district, caught absolutely nothing, we just froze our butts off. Then we went out to a members house and had dinner and played games, then we came home super overwhelmed because we both got a load of just candy, food, missionary stuff and a lot more candy. But overall it was a fantastic Christmas and I'm so happy and grateful for all the stuff I got and the things we were able to do.

Today we had a zone P-day! So we went out with our zone and ate some delicious BBQ, then played volleyball at the church basically the entire time. It was so fun and i had such a blast, our zone is the best and I sure am gonna miss all the people that are leaving. 

So that wraps it up for me. I wrote a song, buried a cat, found out I'm getting a new comp, had a bomb Christmas, have loads of candy and snacks, and I'm no longer a trainee!! Hope y'all had a fantastic Christmas!!!!! Christ truly is the greatest thing in my life, he is my savior and my redeemer and my light! I hope that I can do better at emulating his love towards everyone around me and I pray that y'all can too cause becoming more christlike just opens up our eyes to the love our savior has for us!! Anyways enjoy y'alls week!!! Talk to y'all in the next one!!!

Zone Conference

Christmas!!!

Virginia Sunsets

More Sunsets

Zone P-Day

SEND IT 🤘🏼 - 19 December 2022

The week before Christmas!! Can't believe it's already here, it literally feels like yesterday I was home and I'm almost done with training. It's crazy how time flies and yet I still feel like I'm gonna die here lol.

This week we did a lot of knocking. Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, somewhat Saturday and Sunday we knocked doors.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both basic days, wake up, do studies, Tuesday we had service, then we went out knocking. Tuesday we didn't find a lot of people but we had some great conversations with people and we are going back on wednesday this week to talk with them again. Wednesday was a little better, we found two new people and talked to a lot more people. We talked to a guy who was really into demonic stuff, he wasn't doing anything demonic, it just interested him. So we talked about the spirit world and how spirits do exist and demons do exist but we try to stay on the good side of all that stuff. He also asked us if we could perform exorcisms and we were like uh technically we do have the power to cast off demons but we wouldn't really call it an exorcism. We have no idea if he's been dealing with demons in his life but hey we are going back today so we will find out. After that we had an amazing lessons with a our progressing guy, we wanted to talk to him about the resurrection and stuff so we had him read 2 Nephi 9 by himself then we were gonna go through it with him. He's told us before about his mom passing away so we wanted him to understand that life does exist after death. After we read the chapter I just felt like I should ask if he believed he would see his mom again, he kinda looked at me then the picture of his mom and said I think so yeah. I just testified that he was right and that life after death does exist and that the resurrection will be the beginning of our perfected immortal bodies. The spirit was so strong and I truly believe he felt his mom near his heart that night.

Thursday was another day for knocking but this time we went dot hopping and knocking. We were in the same neighborhood as some members but we weren't planning on stopping by. As we walked by their house though, the wife opened the door and yelled HEY ELDERS!! We were just stopped and said hi then she let us in their house and we got to talk with them, they made us hot chocolate and gave us ice cream cake. They are like a bomb family, they both are super young so we are all just a bunch of young adults hanging out, it was lit!! Then we went put and finished knocking, didn't find any success but we had a guy who asked who we were, then said that he believes in Jesus christ as our savior and that only through him can we be saved and you guys don't believe that! We just kinda chuckled and said actually we do too sir. He then went on saying he knew all about us and then me and my comp kinda laughed again and said I don't think you do sir..... he then shut the door on our face and we walked away lol. 

Friday was an exchange day with Elizabeth River elders, I got to go with my district leader and all we had planned for the day was knocking....more knocking...dinner.....knocking. so thats what we did. We went to their area and we just knocked the heck out of some doors. Talked to a lot of people, found a few new people for them and gained so much more confidence in first contacts. Literally Wednesday and thursday I wasn't doing to hot with knocking and I was getting a little frustrated. So god saw that as an opportunity for me to grow. I was a little bit upset about knocking ALL DAY with my district leader but while I was getting ready I kinda just thought well I did ask god to give me some more help with my confidence in first contacts. With that perspective I realized that I am being watched over and that God does answer prayers sometimes sooner than we think lol.

Saturday we had five lessons with people, only three of them went through but still crazy how much we were doing. We taught a guy who's been struggling a lot lately about the atonement and it was super cool, then we taught a lady about the premortal life and the fall and we have no idea if she was even paying attention but idk I thought it went well. Then after that lesson we went to meet a new family who just moved in, they texted us earlier this day and asked if we could come help them move but we were so busy so we quickly texted our elders quorum president and our ward came in clutch!!! There were a lot of people who showed up to help so we are super grateful our ward is lit as heck!!

Sunday was pretty fun, it was obviously church but we had three friends show up which was awesome. One of them even stayed for the second hour which was amazing!!! But then after church we had another family moving in but this wasn't a member, they were a referral and they called asking if we could help them because they hears that the missionaries in the LDS church could come help always. So we also let our ward know and we got one family to show up and help us, it was honestly super fun and we git to talk with this family and they are super cool, they both have Book Of Mormons and they are reading them so we are definitely gonna work with them soon! After that we went out and knocked more doors, we didn't have much success but again talked with a couple cool people. It's always nice to talk to people that treat us like normal human beings especially after getting the door slammed in your face nine times out of ten.

Today is awesome. We woke up and kinda just relaxed until 8, then we went out Mountain biking again and we hit some nasty jumps and some sick trails, definitely gonna have to do it again soon. But then we got Grandpa Norman taking us out to lunch today which will be so fun, then we gonna go hang out with the elders in our district, prolly gonna stop by the store to grab some Dr Pepper, then we got two lessons with a couple new people we found this last week which will be so much fun and definitely a great way to start out the week of Christmas!!!!!

Hope yall are doing well!!! Been praying constantly for all yall, I appreciate all the prayers coming my way!! It means a ton to me to know I got like an army of the bestest friends and family back home!!! Yall are dope!!! Enjoy your Christmas week!! Look for ways to light the world because nothing can compare to the light you shine especially when your around others. 

This is my last week training so we will find out transfer news next week!!! I also might write and email on Christmas if I have time idk I might not, christmas is gonna be lit!!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎅🎅🎅🧑‍🎄🧑‍🎄🧑‍🎄🧑‍🎄🌲🌲🌲🌲🎁🎁🎁🎁🤶🤶🤶🤶🔥🔥🔥🔥🤘🤘🤘🤘💪💪💪💪😎😎😎😎🦧🦧🦧🦧🕺🕺🕺🤯🎄

-Elder Milius 

lightning super zoomed!

we got chicken stew from a lady and I found the chickens beak 

sunset 

Mountain Biking send it!!! 

(Defintely looked and felt a lot bigger of a jump than it looks like in the video)

just a grandpa and his grandkids 

ELDER SIKAHEMA!!! - 12 December 2022

Well this week was quite the fun one! We had an amazing zone conference this week. It was a mission tour so Elder Sikahema from the Seventy and his wife came and talked with us and basically straight up just told us we are the greatest mission ever, maybe he says that to all the missions he visits but who knows. He is hilarious in person and him and his wife are so smart and so genuine and now I feel like I can baptize anyone on the street.

But Tuesday was a pretty basic day, we had time to go knocking which is what we did. Didn't have crazy success but hey, it's all about the effort. We did have a meeting with some lady who was a referral and it was over zoom. So we get on zoom and send her the link but apparently the link didn't work for her, so we sat there just waiting. We ended up texting her and that's when she told us the link didn't work but then right after she said that, she said she has been doing some research and that she feels more comfortable with the Baptist church and said we don't need to meet with her anymore. We were in shock! We wanted to see what she read but she has ghosted us since so I don't know what the heck happened but we were just in shock. 

Wednesday was Zone Conference!!!! It was in Richmond so we had to drive a couple hours up to the Mission Building. When we got there, we were kinda early so we just like waited till more missionaries showed up so we could go in. We got to talk to so many missionaries because instead of breaking up the conferences so that 3 zones met together, they had like 6 zones meet together, so it was a lot of people. It was so fun though to talk to so many friends and see so many people who actually care about you lol. We had panda express for lunch which was bussin', then we got to hear from our president and his wife as well as some missionaries. A couple things that stood out to me was our president shared a lot about trusting in the lord and how no matter what, the lord is the one directing the mission. He also shared that as missionaries, we need to be willing to fight alligators and crawl over broken glass to do this work and to listen to the words of the prophets. President Hutchison is awesome! He's so patriotic and he just call us to the work!! Another thing that stood out to me was there was a sister who gave her departing testimony and she shared the story of when Jesus was tried and the people wanted to crucify Jesus rather than the murderer who was found guilty. Jesus took the consequence that wasn't his, we are found guilty but Jesus still paid the consequence and I just though that was so cool, and so up-lifting. Aight now we get to Elder Sikahema!!! He did a role-play with some elders and one thing that he said was that the Book Of Mormon answers deep questions with more clarity and power than the Bible ever could. After the role-play, however, his wife gave a great talk on who we are and who's we are. We are children of God, we are children of the covenant, and we are disciples of Jesus Christ. Knowing this is how we can better our lives and prepare ourselves for the trials that come our way. Which lead great to Elder Sikahemas final talk about preparation. We read Alma 49 and talked about how preparation is so so important in our lives because no matter what, the stones and arrows of life will be thrown and shot at us, but whether or not we can survive is determined on how tall we build our walls, and how much we prepare for them. He also shared that temple workers and missionaries are the ones who keep the world safe from destruction, we are here to help people receive the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, and without that, the world would come to a stop and would be destroyed. But that goes into the fact that we are all missionaries and we all can go to the temple for proxy so we all need to be part of those who keep this world safe. Covenants are so important because covenants are what protects us physically and spiritually, to honor those covenants is a big preparation to withhold the arrows and stones of the world. So in conclusions Elder Sikahema is a Chad of all Chad's, he is a stud, an absolute spiritual unit! He gave a talk last year in October and I would recommend rereading it! Cause it is awesome. OK well to finish off this amazing day so far, we had a zone breakout which was always fun. We talked about how to invite the spirit. And the 6 things we talked about were, 1- pray (pray like the savior would, 2- use the scriptures (to teach doctrine, invite to act, promise blessings), 3- music, 4- express love and gratitude for friends, 5- testify all the time, 6- share spiritual experiences. It was a great Zone Breakout and was definitely worth it even though it was a little less intense than Elder Sikahema lol. Finally we made the trip back home and had an awesome lesson with one our super progressing guys. Overall, one of the best days in my entire mission so far, don't think anything can top this day.

Well Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the typical days of days. Thursday we had service, and weekly planning, and went out knocking. Friday we had service, had a lesson with another guy on date, and went out knocking, Saturday was almost the exact same but minus the service. Sunday we had church and then went out knocking. Nothing crazy happened on those days, maybe that's because I don't know how anything could compare to Wednesday because it was so flipping lit!! 

Anyways that was my week!! Hope y'all had a great week as well, prolly can't beat me because ya know, hearing from a general authority is kinda the best thing in the world lol. But I hope you guys have a great week to come, stay close to God and get to know Jesus this Christmas season!! Read 3 Nephi 11 and 3 Nephi 27. Also read Elder Sikahemas talk from last year because it's awesome. But hope y'all have a fantastic holiday season and I'll see you guys in the next one. 

Zone Breakout!

Zone Conference (I'm on the top row just in case y'all want to check out my cute face)

More Zone pics

Apparently I look like buzz Lightyear...I don't see it, do you?

LOTS OF MEMBER MEALS!! - 5 December 2022

Another Monday goes by so another email I must write! How's everyone doing? Hope y'all had a great first week of December!! I for one had a great week! I will say each week has been getting slower and slower, I don't know why but I think it's because Christmas is right around the corner and this is my first Christmas alone, but know I'm doing great!! 

Monday was pretty fly as heck! We had a lesson with our guy on date, we still aren't sure if he understands anything cause we were talking about fasting and when we invited him to fast he said, "Oh yeah I'll come to church," and we were like, "OK cool so can you fast?" and he said, "yeah, I'll be there!" So we aren't sure if he understands but we will keep working with him.

Tuesday we had interviews with our president which was awesome because it was right after our exchange with the ZLs so I got to talk all about that and president man! He just hypes you up! My companion says it best, "our president gets you ready to go to war!" We then had an awesome lesson with one our super progressing girls. We talked a lot about prophets and scriptures and then at the end she volunteered to pray for us!! She gave one of the best prayers I've ever heard!! Better than anything I could have done!! She is super cool and we are praying she wants to be baptized soon!!

Wednesday we broke out the bikes again to go knocking, it was a pretty dry knocking session but after that we had dinner with a family who is vegetarian but they made us Cafe Rio burritos, they just had beans, guac, salsa, cheese, rice, and ww just made it, rolled it up and boom burrito! They were so delicious but I will say...can't keep me from ever adding meat when I get the chance. I need my protein ya know, for the gains 💪💪💪💪

Thursday we did service for this one member, her and her husband have been gone for a while so they had a lot of weeds to pull. So we pulled out all their weeds and then they wanted to take us out for dinner, so we said anything would be fine, and she offered Texas roadhouse!! We didn't say anything cause we didn't want them to pay so much but we also really wanted Texas roadhouse. So we ended up going and when we got there, they looked at us and said, your both ordering steaks! They also got the onion blossom and so we just pounded the bread, the onion blossom and steaks that night!!! I'm telling you, I've gone to Texas roadhouse more than I have ever gone in my life. It just doesn't make sense!

Friday we got to go knocking again and lemme tell you, we found like three people who were interested in us coming back but even out of three, all the doors we knocked on, we talk about the Book Of Mormon. It's so crazy how strong the spirit is when you talk about the Book Of Mormon and how it was translated by a modern prophet with the power of God!! We then got to go have dinner with another member who took us to this Mongolian restaurant and surprisingly it slapped!! After that we got to go chat with a member after her husband passed. When we got there she brought us in to a room that had all his old ties and said take whatever. There were lots of bolo ties so me and my comp got some of those, and they look so sick!! Like they are a lot cooler than I thought.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty basic. Saturdays are always great knocking days, we did have a guy cuss us out at his door. He was super peeved but later that evening he found us and came and apologized. He was a super cool guy but was super stressed and really didn't mean to lash out. He took a pamphlet so maybe he'll read it and come to know that through the gospel of Jesus christ, all can find peace. Sunday was also pretty basic, just church, a few phone calls, a mentoring thing, and then we got to go to dinner with this super "blessed" family. And by super blessed I mean they are just rich as nuts! They got a huge house, a nice neighborhood, a huge backyard, but they are just the nicest people ever!! Also they invited us over for Christmas dinner!!! So now we have plans for Christmas day!!! Which will be so fun!!! 

Today was just P-day!! But it was district P-day so we got to go bowling with our district which was so fun!! I however realized that I'm just gonna stick to baseball, it's just a little more natural and I can actually do good at baseball. Bowling I can not lol. But that was my week!! Hope y'all had a great week and have a great next week!! Enjoy the Christmas season and don't forget to Light The World!!!!!!!!!! 🎁🌲🧑‍🎄🎅🎄🤶🎄🎅🎄🎄🧑‍🎄🎁🎁🎁🎁🧑‍🎄🌲🎅🎄🎄🤶🤶🤶🎄🎄🌲

-Elder Milius

Elder Milius and Elder Smith

Bolo Ties Goin crazy

our ward Christmas party, yeah I rock with it

interviews 

P-day with the gang!