A REFINER’S FIRE - 29 April 2024

I'm probably gonna keep this one short but try to make it sweet! 

Hope yall have been having an amazing week and an amazing day today! Things in the mission are just flying by. Each day I feel like is going quicker and quicker. I'm glad I've had lots of eye opening experiences lately because it's helped my realize that I need to make the most of my last 4 and a half months on the mission. Yes I have close to 4 Months left!! 

So I don't have much to report on this week other than I've been in and out of prayers with the lord all week. I will say this has been the hardest week of my mission, we have had little to no success all week and everyday I question why we failed. But I've turned to the lord this entire week and I can also say that I've never felt closer to the lord. I've tried to become the most obedient consecrated missionary I possibly can be and even though I know eventually blessings will come, I feel like this week has brought me down to my knees. Being obedient to God is Hard! But theres no where I'd rather be. I'm going through a refiners fire and I'm ready to come out the other side. I've had more spiritual strength even though I've been exhausted every day. I've had lots of time to think about what I can do to become even better and I have very high hopes for this upcoming week. God has tested me, but he will help me. 

The only thing awesome about this week is today we had an awesome day! It was close to 90 degrees outside with lots of sun so we be cooking out here in virginia! We played some disc golf in the morning then had an awesome zone Pday. We played some kickball and had some hotdogs! Then we got to go fishing with one of our members and I swear I caught close to 15 fish. Reckon they were little fish but hey, it's always fun reeling in a fish and chucking it back in the water. 

But anyways, that was my week, I hope yall had a better week than me. But no worries, this week is going to pop off. I'm ready for a hard working week to make up from this last week! I hope you all have a wonderful week as well. I love each and everyone of yall. I appreciate every single prayer that comes my way and all the emails yall have sent in return!! Stay cool and be like Jesus Yall! 

-Elder Milius 

Fernando got baptizeeeed! - 22 April 2024

Yo what is going on everyone!!! I hope yall are doing amazing, things be chugging along quick! Feels like I just wrote an email yesterday but here we are on Monday already! 

So to get things going, Fernando got baptized on Saturday and it was such an amazing baptismal service. A little background on Fernando is he is really close friends with a big family in our ward, so he's been surrounded by the church for a long time, until eventually, the member invited him to church and perked his interest in the gospel. It was a long journey of learning and striving to live the gospel till eventually it came the day that he wanted to be baptized. The cool thing about it all was since he was so close with the members, our members put together everything. The program, lunch, lessons, etc. When it came time, our member baptized Fernando and the spirit was so strong in the room when he came out of the water, there were lots of tears shed that day. 

Then come Sunday, Fernando came to church ready to be confirmed and given the gift of the holy ghost. And to spoil it a little, this was the most spirit filled sacrament meeting I think I've had in my entire life. We sang 7 verses of "How Firm A Foundation" Then we got ready for the confirmation and we probably had at least 10 people in the circle during the confirmation. Of course, the member gave the confirmation and the blessing and when I tell you I had shivers down my whole body during the entire confirmation, im giving you an understatement. After wards we had an amazing sacrament meeting then at the end we sang "The Spirit of God" and the whole congregation stood up for it as well. We then found out that Fernandos wife (who isn't a member) was in tears the entire meeting because of how strong the spirit was. I can not put into words how strong the spirit was this whole weekend. 

The rest of the week was just another grind week. We did have exchanges with our zone leaders and we all went crazy! I found 4 new people and my zone leader found 4 as well. This honestly showed me that it is possible to find people here in this area. While the people we found kinda bummed on us because nome of them came to church and all our lessons this week fell through, it was a testimony to me that it still is possible to find people and eventually, God will place us on the path of the elect and the elect on to our path! 

Well I hope yall had a great week, I'm hoping this next week goes well. Kinda like last week, we haven't taught a single return appointment lesson from any of our friends which has been very discouraging but I have faith and hope and I know eventually we have to see miracles, all it takes is consistency! Anyways! I love yall, keep being awesome and always remember to love God and love your neighbors!!! Take care!

-Elder Milius 

5 MONTHS ‘TIL THE REST OF MY LIFE - 15 April 2024

Hey everyone!!! It's a bright beautiful day in Virginia. It's getting hotter and hotter by the minute. This next week It's supposed to be in the 80s all week so I'm excited but I'm also not. It's my last summer here so better enjoy it before I get swept with the AZ heat wave lol. 

Things are going good here in the mission, this past week has had many upsides and many many downs but needless to say I can never be more appreciative for all your prayers than right now. It's kinda crazy but I've never felt such a power from the prayers I've received. I echo exactly what Holland said in his talk about how I will be eternally grateful to all who thought of me in their prayers. I've honestly come to recognize the importance of prayer this past week. If I’m being completely open I have never been good at saying my prayers at night, I've just always been too tired and unable to focus so I never did them. But this past week I've said more personal  prayers than ever before and I have seen the power that comes from talking with your heavenly father. No matter what situation you are in, no matter how long its been since you last prayed, no matter what you have done, God will listen and answer your prayers. He is honestly more joyous when we just talk to him about stuff. 

So anyways, this past week we've had lots of finding, we haven't taught a single return appointment all week which is kinda sad but we've been able to find a good amount of people. Hopefully some will start to progress because our teaching pool is empty. 

Our friend Fernando is getting baptized this upcoming Saturday though so I'm super super excited for that. It's been a couple years since this area had a baptism so we are super pumped and so is the ward and so is our friend. He basically got adopted into this one family so that has been super helpful for his conversion and he is so ready to just recieve it all! 

Other than that, things are just chillin! Hopefully this week things will calm down and we can focus a lot more on the work. I've got about 5 months left on my mission so I'm starting to work my hardest, I've only got so much time Till I'm home and I want to make this last stretch the best it can be. I'm gonna do everything in my power to be diligent, strictly obedient and spirit led in all things and see how much I can change before I come home. The mission is the only time in my life where I can become the man God wants me to be. My brother would always say, you've git two years to prepare for the rest of your life and I dont want to waste it. 

Anyways I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep staying strong in the gospel and always remember that God loves you! 

Favorite general conference line:

"Be still, and know that I am God"

-Bednar 

Love you all!! 

-Elder milius 

 

GENERAL CONFERENCE!! - 8 April 2024

Yo hello everybody!!! It's only been what like 4 days since my last email. This one will probably be shorter than others but that's OK!! 

This week we didn't have much going on really, except we kinda did but it was just a long week for some reason. So as all yall know, last week we had zone conference as well as the temple trip which was awesome, then on Thursday we had exchanges with our zone leaders which was super fun. Our zone leaders are Spanish though so it wasn't super productive at least for me. We did however have English class so I got to teach some Hispanics how to speak English haha. Can't say I'm too good at English though so maybe I shouldn't be doing that lol. But the exchange was overall lots of fun, I went with Elder Connolly and he is just a beast missionary! Super consecrated and laser focused on what's important! He's only been out for like 8 months but I learned tons from him! 

Then the rest of the week consisted of us just trying to find the elect. General conference was this past weekend and it was so awesome! We got to hear some amazing talks and it was so cool to hear that Yuma, Arizona is getting temple!!! That will make 7 temples on Arizona soil! So so cool! 

We did find this super cool lady named Teresa! It was honestly so cool how we found her. We were out knocking before Saturday evening conference and I felt like we needed to dip and go to this one strip mall with lots of stores. And the whole time in the parking lot we were getting rejected like crazy until we were ready to go to General Conference when we saw Teresa walking to her car and we invited her to church! She obviously said yes but a later week and we had a phone call with her that night! Found out she had been praying to God for a chance to be closer to him and boom there we were inviting her to church. We shared a baller scripture with her and she literally broke into tears over the phone! It was so cool, so I hope she will progress further and find lots of blessings in this journey! 

Anyways that about all I got for this week. My favorite talk had to probably be by Alexander Dushku about recieving 1 ray of light at a time. It gave me a chance to reflect back on all the little rays of sunshine I've seen in my life. I didn't need a pillar of light all at once to know that Jesus is my Savior. I have a lifetime pillar of light looking back and I can confidently say...

I know Jesus Christ! 

Aight I hope yall have a fantastic week!! Stay breezy and keep on trucking along!! 

-Elder Milius 

MY LAST TEMPLE P-DAY FOR AWHILE - 3 April 2024

Hello everybody!! Kinda didn't expect to have my pday today but last week we quickly decided on a day this week to go to the temple as the temple will be closing next week for maintenance. Hence the reason I didn't write an email on Monday. 

But the seasons are changing and I'm in a new area! I'm here in the Spotsylvania/Massaponix area up in Fredericksburg and I'm with elder O'Donnell! These past couple days here have been awesome. I'm just trying tk get used to the area and keep that hard working mentality all the way till the end of my mission. So with lots to write about I'll go ahead and get right into it! 

I got the chance to say goodbye to lots of the members in Oceana throughout last week. It was very sad but im so happy for the connections and the relationships I can now look back on from my time in Virginia Beach! 

Friday we had transfers and it's kinda crazy how I don't know anybody in the mission now, I guess time will do that to ya. But eventually me and Elder O'Donnell made our way back up to Fredericksburg and got going right away. I was actually able to find a super cool guy to teach at 7/11, definitely a tender mercy from the lord as changing areas is usually not the most fun. But then Sunday came rolling around and I actually got to see lots of people I already knew. There were a couple kids I knew from Oceana visiting and they were so surprised and hyped to see me! It was super funny and awesome. Then I also ran into a member I knew from Stafford who just moved into the ward I now cover so that was crazy too. Out of all the places to move to, somehow we ended up in the same ward again, such a small ward. Me and my comp also got dragged into the choir for some reason for both the wards we cover. It was super awkward cause we had no clue what was going on with the choir but we were just winging it up there. Can't say we did amazing lol.

Then we had Easter lunch/dinner with a super super cool member who made us Easter baskets and everything! It was awesome! My mom also got to meet them like the first day I arrived cause this member likes to call all our moms when we come into the area lol. I wondered if my mom was nervous seeing a random call from a Virginia number knowing I'm the only reason someone from Virginia would call her lol. 

Monday was a grind day since we didn't have Pday but it went by relatively quick so there was no worry there. We just had district council and got the find grind going. 

Tuesday we had Zone conference and it was amazing as always. We had a big game party beforehand because of the mission breaking the baptism record again. Our record was 59 I think and this past transfer we helped 82 souls enter into a covenant relationship with God! It's actually kinda crazy how quickly God is hastening the work here. So we celebrated that and then had normal Zone conference. It's always a blast hearing from President and all others who spoke. 

It was my companions birthday yesterday as well so we actually went to Texas Roadhouse after dinner cause ya know, I had to get that steak! It was hilarious too, so I told the waitress it was his birthday and they totally brought out the saddle for him to sit on. It was so funny but we also thought you get free cake after and instead he didn't get anything. So he got mega embarrassed in front of a bunch of people all for nothing lol. 

Anyways today we are going to the temple, I may post some follow up pictures after I get home but I hope you all had a fantastic week. I love all yall and I will talk to yalk in the next one!! 

-Elder Milius 

‘IGHT IMA HEAD OUT - 25 March 2024

Super bummed but I'm heading out of Virginia Beach after 6 months of the best memories and work I've had my whole mission. Yes I got my transfer news on Saturday and yes I am leaving. I kinda expected to leave but after it has set in, I'm kinda sad knowing I'm leaving. But I'm headed up to Fredericksburg just north of Richmond. I'll be in an area called Massaponix with a companion I actually was with a year ago. Me and Elder O'Donnell are getting back together and I'm pretty excited! 

Anyways to go quickly over my last week because I'm super unmotivated to write an email today. This whole week we were preparing for an event our ward was putting together for Easter. They called it the Book of mormon walk through and it basically was a tour through our church for people to learn and see events that lead up to the coming of Jesus Christ in America. It was a grind all week cause we didn't get much other work done other than sending out lots of invites and planning logistics. Eventually on Saturday we held the event all day and it was super super awesome! We as the missionaries were the face people saw as they walked in and the face they saw when they walked out. In fact there were lots of non members that showed up and it was super cool cause we collected about 60 book of Mormons and when we left there were about 40 so that was successful in its own! 

I had to say goodbye to a few members on Sunday which was very sad, I felt so blessed by this ward and they all helped me through the hard times I went through in this area. I'm leaving the area with great potential my comp is getting a trainee and we've got two super cool people that we have coming to church. We also had an awesome phone call with this one guy who straight up asked us about baptism. He was thinking about it for himself so we promised awesome blessings and hopefully today we will put him on date for sometime this next month. So the area has great people to work with and I feel like I know my purpose here. I've met amazing friends, grew so many relationships and helped ty enter into the waters of baptism. 

While things keep moving on this train I'm on, sometimes I feel queezy about everything, especially when change is in store and I have no idea what to expect with my new companion or the new area. I've also had the thought of fearing God more than man on my mind as I sometimes struggle when I worry about things I've done or just the thought of having to talk to everyone about Jesus. A couple days ago I was standing at Walmart alone and I genuinely felt alone. People were walking by but it felt like a cat got my tongue, I couldn't even speak if I wanted to. It felt like how Joseph Smith felt in the garden when Satan overpowered him. But as I opened my eyes and realized exactly what Satan was doing, I took a second to read some scriptures. I stumbled upon Mosiah 2: 41 which talks about remembering the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God. While sometimes I fear man, and sometimes that fear can bring sadness. When I turn back to God and focus on keeping his commandments I will find joy and I can speak to all about his church because in the end, I fear going up to God and looking back on my life just to see I missed out on opportunities that could have changed my life. So If you ever have fear unto sadness, remember that joy is found in keeping commandments, make it a daily routine to remember the commandments and how you can follow them because in them, like I said, is the promise of never ending joy. 

Anyways that's my week, I hope yall had an awesome week and I hope you have a great week ahead. Keep Killin it wherever you are! God loves you and so do I! Take care!!!

-Elder Milius 

TEMPLE TRIP-NOW - 11 March 2024

Well it's been like 4 days since I wrote an email and nothing has honestly changed since my last email. But I’ll just kinda give you an update on all our peeps!

We have a friend named Phalyn and she is so so cool! She had a hard last week but we were able to call and talk with her again and we had a great conversation about how the adversary will tear us down more when we are headed down the righteous path. Just like the persecution on Joseph Smith and the early saints, Satan will do anything he can to hurt those who seek the true church of christ! But hopefully soon we can get her to join us for church and start reading the Book of Mormon to help battle those adversities!

Vanessa is another friend we have, she unfortunately hasn't been responding to us but I think I mentioned last email about the awesome lesson we had over the phone with her and 2 of our members! The spirit was so strong in the lesson, we just have to get that spiritual momentum moving and get her to respond lol.

We have another friend named Shirley and she is just a sweet lady! She loves meeting with us, In fact she is always the one to schedule lessons with us. She hasn't come to church yet but we've read the book of mormon with her a lot and hopefully soon, once she finds the time, we'll be able to see her at church one of these Sundays. She even says she wants to bring her daughter and her best friend once she gets that time! 

That's honestly all the people we are teaching, we have a couple other people but they are kinds on the fence with things. I'm not gonna lie, our teaching pool is not big right now which is kinda frustrating but we keep grinding and trusting in God providing miracles! So hopefully soon this area will get popping again! 

Our recent convert ty is doing great! He is coming tk church and he even brought his kid yesterday! We also had ward conference, so the stake presidency was there and the stake president came up to him and congratulated him on the baptism! It's pretty awesome to see a recent convert of yours continue to grow in the gospel and continue to let God bless their life!!

OK that's about all I've got for the week, this past week has just been grinding the find and taking things ome day at a time with the faith in God and faith in the work! But I hope yall have an amazing week and I'll talk to yall in the next! 

-Elder Milius