CALLED TO VIRGINIA RICHMOND SERVING IN RICHMOND ZONE - 27 March 2023

Good Morning Mechanicsville!! Also what's up gang! So from my last letter you learned that I was heading up to Mechanicsville! Well I'm here!! Things have been quite interesting here and I'm not sure what to think. I've basically been trying to figure out how to be a district leader while learning a new area and a new comp! So it's been a ride for sure. This place is really beautiful though, it's the outskirts of Richmond and it's just filled with green hills full of trees and beautiful houses. Not too many humble humble areas which I do like but hey there is a reason I'm here and I've been super motivated to find out!

Tuesday was the day before transfers so it was full of goodbyes. We went and had service at the farm and I got to say goodbye to Judy, she was sad I was leaving but I know I've got a lot of time left on the Mission so maybe I'll be back to see her and the farm. Then we went and helped a member move a mattress for like 20 minutes but it was good to say goodbye to her as well. Then we came home and got ready to head to Dinner with Sister Neer. This was kinda funny cause i pull up to the restaurant and I couldn't see her car, so we sat outside calling her but no answer, so we finally go inside and she was sitting right up front. She gave me some flaming for that 😅 but all was well and after we got to go have a lesson with her and another member. It was great to say goodbye to them as well. By the time we got out though, it was already 8:30 but I promised the guy we have on date I would stop by. So we rushed over there and talked with them for a little bit and said goodbye to them as well. It's sad to leave but I'm so excited for him to be baptized next month.

Wednesday was transfer day and it was hype!! We drove up after I finally packed all my stuff, don't know how I got everything in but I did. When we got to transfers we parked and just said hi to everybody then went tk go watch the new missionaries meet their trainers. Something awesome was I got to see Nora Maher, aka sister Maher! It was a party to see her and I'm so excited for her to just grind the Virginia Richmond Mission!! But after that I met with some more elders sad found my new comp and we headed to Mechanicsville. It is so nice not having to drive though. The rest of the night we went out knocking and I've kinda lost a little juice from knocking so I'm gonna try my best to gain that confidence back. 

Thursday we went knocking before lunch and boy was it a great first full day hahah! I'm being sarcastic, we knocked a neighborhood that was pretty nice and everyone got mad at us, there was only like one nice person. So we left because we didn't want to cause an uproar in the neighborhood even though we aren't solicitors. Oh well. Then I had a District Leader meeting talking about how important a DL is, needless to say it made me more stressed. But then we had some weekly planning and went out knocking the rest of the day, all of our lessons fell through so we just grinded all night.

Friday was a full day of lessons and most of them went through!! It was great! We got to meet a guy named hunter who they were teaching before I showed up and had an awesome lesson with him about the restoration. We then knocked a lot more doors then went to a lesson with a new member who got baptized in December, his name is Matt and he is a genius, a never fall away saint if I've ever seen one. Then we went out knocking some more and taught a couple new people which was awesome! 

Saturday was amazing! We got to go work at the Temple Open House and oh my goodness!!! The temple is so beautiful and I love being there. It was kinda uncoordinated which was surprising but we parked ourselves at the exit so we got to say goodbye to all the people that came and the smiles on those people's faces were so big!! They were full of joy and the spirit!! It was so cool. We then got to go through after our shift ended and I don't think I've missed the temple more than when I went in there. It was so beautiful and full of so many original paintings and beautiful architecture! I remember walking through the Celestial Room and I forgot how much spirit is there that it almost made me cry. But when we came out we got to wall around the grounds and take pictures! Gosh Virginia is so lucky to have such a beautiful temple!!

Sunday was the first Sunday here and I got to meet a lot of the members and they were all so welcoming! After church though I had to give my first District Council 😅. It went relatively well, I didn't really know what I was doing but they all seemed to be uplifted, even the APs! Crazy how that works but It was good. My district is almost elders and it's fun to hang around them. I'm still getting used to all the responsibilities because I don't think I know everything that I'm doing because nobody told me how or what to do so I know as the weeks go by I'll figure it out. 

Today obviously is still going on but we woke up early morning around 4:10am to go play pickle ball with some people from our ward! It was so fun! But I am so tired now so I'm gonna go take a nap. They are like legit serious pickleball players so it was intense.

Anyways I'm so happy and hopeful for the future, my comp is awesome and we get along really well, we play poker every night so it's a good comp bonding moment haha but he's so cool. I can't wait to fully adjust to the area and to the people and just grind out some baptisms!! I lobe all yall and hope you guys have a fantastic week! I look forward to talking to yall in the next one!

-Elder Milius

The Clayton’s

Sister Neer

Nora Maher!! Aka Sister Maher!

Elder O’Donnell

The Temple

Brother Clark aka former Elder Clark

Elders Gang at the Temple

Elder Stacey!

More Temple

 

LATE NIGHT TEXTS FROM PRESIDENT

So this week kinda was a blur all the way up till about three days ago. I honestly am blanking right now as I write this email so I'm just gonna try and get straight into my week!

Tuesday was a cool day, we went to go visit one of our friends but he actually wasn't home so we went around knocking some doors and actually found a girl who has been trying to grow her faith in christ. We told her that a great way to do that is through the Book of Mormon and she was really interested, we gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time to call her back!

Wednesday was an awesome day! We had an early morning lesson with the guy we have on date and it went really well, we just had to finish teaching him everything he needed to know to get baptized so once we finished, we told him that there is nothing else he needs to learn before his baptism. We then scheduled his baptism officially and he is planning for the 29th of April! I'm so stoked for him because I know this will bless his life. After that we actually went to go visit this one online referral we got and she answered and let us into her house. She had her family there and we got to sit down with her family and shared the full restoration with her and her sons and her daughter! It was so cool to do that especially when talking about how the gospel can bless their family and unite them. Later that night we had another lesson with a progressing friend and she is struggling a lot especially with prayer but we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus christ and she seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Thursday was a big meeting day. We had a safety devotional in the morning and then had weekly planning after lunch, and then had a mission devotional in the afternoon. Good news about the afternoon meeting is... WE GET TO HELP WORK AT THE TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE!!! I'm so excited to help out. Every missionary will have the chance to go to work some shifts at the temple then they'll get to tour the temple afterwards! I'm so excited like I can't wait to see this amazing temple that I'm telling every one about. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity too, I mean when am I ever gonna be able to assist in a temple open house again, Probably never. So I'm really really excited! Also this night when we went to bed I just want to throw it our there that I had no messages from anyone as I was going to bed...

So Friday was a crazy day! I woke up around 6:28, the sun wasn't even up yet, I rolled out of bed and wrapped myself in my blanket. I grabbed my phone to head out to the couch to daily plan and after I said my morning prayer I looked at my phone. I had received a message from president. Now when this happens, my first thoughts are oh, he's asking me to be a trainer, as I have not been made trainer yet. Hahah No. I read District Leader and I might have crapped myself a lil bit. So there you have it folks, I have been called to be a district leader!!! I'm honestly super excited, I didn't really know how it was gonna go but the more I think about it, I'm honored to be in this position and I can't wait to learn how and help others grow.

Saturday was transfer news!!! So we got out transfer news in the morning and also guess what!! I'm heading out of here! I'm leaving my baby area and I'm getting transfered up to Richmond!! Literally I am in the Richmond zone! My exact area is called Mechanicsville and from what I've heard it's basically the suburbs of the city of Richmond. What's also crazy is the temple is only 20 minutes away from that apartment! And I also found out that the Assistants are in my district! So what does that mean for me, I have to be district leader over the Assistants!!! I'm honestly super intimidated but every one has told me how fun they make district councils so I can't wait tk get to know them and help them as they help me hahaha. 

That was pretty much the highlight of my week, I know I'm sending this late but that's because yesterday was a really busy day as I was packing all night. And then today is my last day in this area so I have to finish packing and hope I dont leave anything behind!! But I hope yall had an amazing week and I can't wait to see how this next week goes!!!

-Elder Milius 

My new Zone!

Our last district council here in Chesapeake 

 

6 MONTHS…YES I’M CLICHE

Well ita officially been six months since I've been out!! Crazy right! It feels like yesterday I was in home MTC learning how to be a missionary and now I'm 6 months in and I'm still learning how to be a missionary. I will say I've learned so much about myself and about the Gospel being out alone in Virginia! I've had highs and I've had lows but nothing compares to how much joy I get when I'm serving heavenly fathers children.

So this week was a miraculous week and lemme tell ya, we grinded all week!!

Tuesday we got to do service at the farm, nothing too crazy with that but then we came home got ready and headed out to visit a guy. He didn't answer so we visited a couple people around him and we found a really cool guy! It was kinda funny cause he was just smoking a blunt while we walked up to him and we weren't even going to talk to him but then we felt inspired and so we asked if we could pray with him. He said yes and we had an awesome conversation with him. He even said he believes we came to that area not for the other lady we were gonna visit but it was for him and so it was super super cool!!

Wednesday was also a grind day, we had like 5 lessons planned but guess what, none of them went through! So our backup was to knock around and so we did but before we were about to leave, one of our friends who we were gonna teach got home so we were actually able to have an awesome lesson with him!! After that we went to go visit this one guy but his ex answered and said he left and wasn't coming back, she shared some personal stuff that was really sad and as she was about to close the door, her kid begged her if they could come to our church. We then asked if we could give her our info and she agreed and then we asked if there's was anything else we could do for her and she really needed a prayer and a blessing over her house. So I said a prayer and after I finished we looked up and she was in tears! The spirit was so strong and was more present than ever. She genuinely needed that and if it wasn't for her kid, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to help her. 

Thursday was a long day for sure, we went out in the morning to go visit a lot of people and actually was able to teach a guy about the Book Of Mormon which was awesome. But then we came home and had lunch cause after lunch we had like 5 lessons over the phone, sad part about it, nobody answered, it was a long day of calling random people cause that's all we could do, then we spent the rest of the afternoon weekly planning, and then after made even more calls, so from 12pm-9pm we were in the apartment all day 😐 kinda blows but oh well. 

Friday we had service at the farm early morning and then we had a lot of time to go out knocking so we did and literally had an awesome time! We talked to so many people and taught about the Book Of Mormon like 4 times!! We found like 3 people that day so overall, found a ton of success that day! 

Saturday was a little chaotic, the only interesting thing that happened was we went over to an investigators house to do some service and teach them. We finished service and went inside to eat/teach and the owner let his devilish dogs out, I got bit by one last time we were over and so I prepared myself by not putting my hands down. My comp however did and he got bit!! Luckily the investigators wife works in the ER so she cleaned it up real well and then let him just sit at his sink, all during this commotion I was just sitting there in silence trying to think of what to do. Then our friend gives me a bowl of spaghetti and so I start teaching him, I talked about temples and the book of mormon meanwhile I'm not sure if my comp was dead or not cause he was just sitting with his face down in a sink. Finally it got time to go so my comp gets up and we leave and come home. It was a really awkward night I will say.

Sunday was a rough day, it was just a basic Sunday with church and meetings but we were both dead this day and had a hard time getting up but we managed to get through it.

Today was also chaotic cause we had to go sit in an urgent care for 3-4 hours because the mission nurse told us to go get antibiotics for his bite. So we sat there and sat there and then finally got called back, the doctor then said she would give us antibiotics and she also gave him a shot and xrayed his finger, and then we had to go to Walgreens to pick up his stuff and now we are both dead tired but still have to stay awake for a little bit longer...

So this week was a long one and it was quite the one for the books!! It was a miraculous week with lots and lots of things to look back on but we had some fun interesting awkward chaotic nights as well. Oh the joy of adulthood on a mission!!

Anyways super grateful for all yall!! Happy early Saint Patrick's day to all!!!

District Council Meeting

 My delicious cheap meal I made!

TEMPLES, NOTHING BEATS TEMPLES!!! - 6 March 2023

What up yall!! Another week another email!! So I hit 6 months next Sundaywhich is crazy! No I'm not counting I just think it's insane that I've been a missionary for so long already!! It feels like yesterday I was just a kid and now I'm just a kid but set apart with power.

Anyways this week was awesome sauce!! Tuesday was a pretty normal day, we went to the farm and had a blast, then came home and immediately went over to a lesson with a guy we are teaching at a members house! The lesson went great as far as I could tell except for the fact that our friend didn't really pay attention, he kinda just sat on his phone and looked at the wall for a while. We taught him the plan of salvation...again! But at this point we are having a hard time trying to figure out if he is accountable and interested. Because he's a genius when it comes to mortgage and loans and stuff like that because that's what he likes to do but then when we tell him to read the Book of Mormon he never remembers anything he reads and at this point we aren't sure if he's reading. So that’s gonna take some time, prayer and revelation to figure out if we should keep at him. Obviously this gospel is for everyone regardless of whether they accept it in this life or in the next so now we understand and have taken the thought to continue to meet with him as long as he wants to meet with us and when he's ready, he'll be ready. 

Wednesday we had a pretty awesome day. We had a lesson with our most progressing guy and we finally got to go in person!!! And I’m so grateful that we were able to go in person cause we had an amazing lesson about the temple and we all shared really heart warming experiences that just filled the room with the spirit! It was a fantastic lesson and he is so ready for baptism. He even wants to go to the temple to perform baptisms for his family which we told him he can do that once he gets baptized! He also can’t wait to get sealed to his wife so they can live together forever! Then we went to go have some lessons with a couple people and the first lady didn't answer so we went out knocking around her and actually found a guy who was really interested! We gave him a Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back! He was so interested and hey it’s cool to see how the Lord directs the work even when we don't see why we go places. We then had another lesson with a lady and it went really well as well! We taught the plan of salvation and shared awesome truths about everything and then got to talk with her about the temple and she was super interested in learning but when we invited her to come she said no... so that was awkward but we told her we could come back and talk with her more and hopefully she'll be interested then. Then we got to go have a conversation with a member and actually talked more about the temple. They fed us some delicious fried rice and shared about their conversion stories and it was so awesome to hear how much trial they had but how much faith they had and how many blessings they received from it.

Thursday was an awesome awesome day. I was feeling really motivated to just go to south Norfolk and spend all day there, so that's what we did. After lunch we drove up to the north part of our area and just parked the car and walked around. We talked to a lot of people and got like 5 numbers and gave away like 3 book of Mormons! We knocked on a lot of doors and actually there was this house that was across the main road we were by and I don't know why but I really wanted to knock it so we just walked down to the light, crossed the main road and walked to the house, we saw a couple people on the side of the street chilling though and one guy actually was in a bush behind a building smoking a cigarette, we just said hi and went to go knock the house thinking we were gonna talk to the home owner. Well not really, nobody answered so we just walked back but then we were like, let's go talk to that guy we said hi to. So we went up to him and told him who we were, he seemed really interested in a prayer and we then talked about the Book Of Mormon with him. We then got his number actually and gave him a Book of Mormon and he was so so happy we came to talk to him and that we gave him the Book. He told us he has been going through a lot and that he just really appreciated us stopping to talk with him. I didn't actually realize it till today but what I now know is that God sees more than we do, we only see the first part of what God has in store for us and we think that's what is gonna be the miracle. When in reality, we didn't go knock that house because we were supposed to talk to whoever lived there, we went over there to talk to that guy and give that guy a Book of Mormon, it was so cool to see how the lord directs our feet to places and it may not be for the reasons we think but there is always a reason to the paths we are prompted to walk. 

Friday we got to have an exchange with our district leader and I got to go with Elder Allred! It was an awesome exchange, we had so much fun, we got to go to a baptism interview and got to call a guy and then we talked like all night and just had a ton of fun. It was awesome! We then went to bed really late cause we were just up messing around, lots happened and it was so funny. 

Saturday we had a pretty busy normal day. We talked to this one lady who was very much against the church, it was kinda funny cause we said we were missionaries from the church of Jesus christ of Latter Day Saints and she didn't know who that was but as we continued to talk to her about the Bible and stuff we brought up the Book Of Mormon, and she goes ohhhhh yall are Mormons! I don't like that, i don't like you. It honestly was a really long conversation with someone who was never going to belive us. She told us at the end that we shouldn't put our trust in prophets and books that aren't the Bible and that we should only put our trust in Jesus, and at this point I was like, we just argued with her for like 20 minutes, I don't really want to get into more stuff with her right now because it's not gonna help us or her. Here's my stance on bashing, if it's a nice bash where the people are respectful and understand what we believe and take into account that we have a testimony of what we believe then it can be a good conversation. But when people just argue with you and you try to correct people and tell them what we actually believe but they just disregard all you say then it's a waste of time to be there when you could be out finding people who are actually interested. But needless to say we tried. That was really the highlight of that day.

Sunday we had a pretty cool day, a couple people we invited made it to church and we actually got to talk with a lot of members. I'd say the relationship we had with members my first couple months has grown so much since I've been here, we actually have been putting in a lot of effort to reach out to members and it works! But then we got to go have dinner with a member that night and it was a delicious dinner. We then had an awesome lesson with them about the temple and the spirit was just so so strong. I can honestly say whenever we bring up the temple, a very unique feeling comes into the room and it just fills your whole soul with peace. 

Today was pretty fun!! We went fishing at a members house, didn't catch anything but then we got to shoot some pellet guns for a while with made the day better. Had a ton of fun with this member, then he actually gave us some deer and hog meats to cook so I'm superrrr excited about that. If yall have any venison or pork recipes that are good lemme know cause im tryna cook some delicious steaks.

Anyways that's my week!! One thing I did wanna add in here is that I don't want yall thinking I'm like not happy being here, I'm the happiest I've been in my entire life, there is nothing I would rather be doing than serving the lord and specifically serving the people of Chesapeake Virginia! The weather is great! The people are fantastic and there will forever be a place in my heart for Chesapeake! I've been able to see someone progress from nothing to almost everything and it has blessed my testimony so much, I've seen miracles and have seen my testimony strengthened by all my many trials. Being a missionary is hard! One thing my brother said to me before I left was that the mission is gonna be the best experience I ever have, but it's also gonna be the hardest thing I'll ever do, and I truly do see that but nothing compares to the love I feel and the peace I feel when I testify of the truthfulness of this gospel to anybody I can. I love it here and I love the work and I love the gospel. I love this area but I can't wait to go serve even more of God's children in the other areas God has planned out for me.

I'm so grateful for my blessings and for my hardships and for my joys! I love you all and I'll talk to you guys in the next one!!!

-Elder Milius 

Blurry Elder Allred

Exchange pics