Letter #35

Dear Mom,

churro & Chocolate:)

Pick Pocket! Everything is fine and the mission office is working to get me a new church credit card and residency card. I am really bumbed out that I lost my wallet. It had my drivers lisence, A Coruña bus card & my other credit cards.  I didn´t lose any cash luckily.  It was a sentimental loss more than anything. I am safe though and I am glad to hear that there wasn´t any money taken out of either of my accounts. I was on my way to Cuenca to do an exchange. We took the metro and it was completely packed, so I am guessing that some sneak thief stole it there. I don´t remember seeing anybody suspicious or feeling anybody reaching into my satchel. My wallet was in a bad place, in my bag. Hopefully the other Elders will have compassion on me and lend me some money to eat. Elder Anderson already has helped me out a bit, great guy. Transfers are here! I was originally going to stay in my same area with a new companion but President called me and told me that I am going to a different area that is just outside of the main city Madird. It is more like the suburbs of Madrid. Sisters were originally there but there has been creepy guys giving them problems so I am trading areas with them.  I am still in the same ward and district but I will just be about 40 minutes outside of Madrid. There are awesome members there and I am excited to have a new area. Elder Anderson and I had a lot of people that were really close to baptism. I am bummed that I won´t be able to continue to teach them, but I will be able to interview them! I will miss Elder Anderson. He was an awesome companion with a lot of good desires to work hard. I am recieving my new companion this Wednesday.  He is coming down from Leon and he is a native! I am going to learn a ton more Spanish with him, so I am very excited for that. 

Everything is going great, I am healthy and positive. Working hard, playing little. I think I am going to get some water colors or something so I can get my creative side out a little bit during medio dia :)  

I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving this year! I am sad that I won´t be able to be there to cut the Turkey again but I will try and fix something over here with my new native :) I hope that you have a great week Mom and I love you. Thanks for all your support and awesome letters.

Love Elder Miles

Letter #34 - 8 months

District 8

Elder Miles & his eye candy!

Thanks so much family for your emails! Thanks Dad for your words of encouragement and your update of the week. Thanks Mom for sharing the things that you did and for all of your prayers. Jonny it sounds like you are having a fun time in Middle School with wrestling, new friends, and chaco tacos :) Sounds like you had a fun week Jenna! Josh... what the cuss? 

The city is getting ready for Christmas

My week went all right this week. It was pretty slow.  Not a lot of our investigators had time to meet with us which left us out in the cold winter rains of Madrid. I have been bundled up from head to toe. My leather gloves have saved my life. This week is really time to crack down and get down to business. It is the last week of the transfer and possibly the last week that Elder Anderson are together. 
We have made a really great friendship together. We get along great. 

Oh, love this shop...

For P-day today we traveled up to the northern part of Madrid to meet up with almost every other missionary here in Madrid. That was great to see some other friends that I havent seen in a while. I met another Elder that went to Alta High School named Elder Hawks. It was cool to meet him. It took quite a bit of travel by train and metro hopping to get to our destination. I find it exciting to navigate all the different lines of the metro and RENFE around Madrid. Sometimes it is exhausting but when I am in the mood for it I enjoy it. 

Lately Elder Anderson and I have been getting a lot of random people that will to tell us that we are wrong and like to argue with us. It isn´t much of an argument because we don't want to waste time and temper but it has been quite annoying. It is random guys on the bus or train and it is easy to argue but I resist and simply listen and give them a pass along card and wish them a good day. It gets my temper up though, it is a good trial of patience.

I am so grateful for all of your letters and support! I hope that you have a great week and remember the Lord in all that you do. 

What do you like & dislike about Spain?

One thing that I love about Spain is when the Spaniards are nice they are really nice and I love them! But when a Spaniard's want to be mean... that I am not a fan of.

What do you eat for breakfast?

For breakfast I usually eat cereal, fruit, croissant with nutella, cola coa (hot chocolate), eggs or just whatever sounds good.

What do you do during medio dia?

During medio día I usually make food, relax a little bit and then study Spanish for half an hour. I am aloud to take a nap but I usually don´t because I feel like I am wasting time. 

What are you studying right now?

I am reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and the New Testament in English. Lately, I have just been trying to learn to be a better teacher with Preach My Gospel. I also study a lot to know how I can help my district. 

Have a great week.  

Love,  Elder Miles

Letter #33

Dear Family,

Glad to hear from you and to know that everything is going well at home. I was really shocked to hear about the horrible typhoon in the Philippines! I can't believe how fast those winds were! 

That is sad that Doug´s dog died. She was a such a nice pup. I missed Charlie and Rozy this week, I felt like ruffing them up and teasing Roxy. Elder Anderson has a couple Corgies and loves to talk about them. He says he wants to live in Ireland and have a heard of Corgies, like around 30. I would like to see pictures of that when it happens:) Did you end up giving charlie a nice chap on the head for trying to eat those tator tots? Give him one for me will ya? A chap on the head not a tator tot.

It seems like there are so many good movies that have come out in 2013! I see posters of them all over the place. Thor 2, Enders Game, look pretty sweet. Let me know how they are. I thought it was funny to read that you and dad came out of that pirate movie all blue. I don´t really like sad true stories all that much either. 

I had a pretty great week this week. I gave my first baptismal interview. I interviewed a Bolivian girl named Eliana and she passed :) It was a really cool privilege to be able to do that. It was also really cool to see her baptized and confirmed after interviewing her. Elder Anderson and I found a really awesome new investigator who was actually able to come to the baptism. His name is Antonio and he is from Leon, España. He is a Spaniard! :) He is super nice and really humble. He is probably around 60 or so and he has some great potential. He came to church yesterday and said that he really liked it and that he was going to keep coming. I love that guy, he is awesome!  
The work is going well, it is improving slowly but surely week to week. Elder Anderson and I are setting a goal to have a new investigator and a lesson with a member every day and that has helped us to concentrate and set good goals. 

I was able to go again to the Temple and it was great. I was able to see the new Endowment presentation which I really enjoyed. I thought it was much better than the old one :) 

All in all a pretty good week. I can´t believe that it is already a new week and that it is P-day again. 

Answers of this week:

-My beard is getting thicker & coming in a little more full.

-My pants are a little tight, I don´t need a belt for sure.

-I understand pretty much everything in Spanish. Elder Anderson and I only speak Spanish in the streets which has been helping a lot. I don´t feel like I can quite express myself completely yet. 

-My favorite food so far in Spain... I had a pretty delicious meal last night at a members house! There was lamb, chicken, beef, potatoes, and a bunch of little ourderves. The spaniards have bread with every meal, which I like because there is a lot of good bread here. I don´t really know what my favorite has been so far. Dominicans also cook super good food!

P.S. I got your package like a week after you sent it and I think that I just forgot to tell you... With the Candy corn and the body part gummies. I have been snacking of those for the past month now. Thanks so much for that! Sorry I forgot to tell you.

P.P.S I am planning on going down to Sol to look at Fútbol shirts like you asked me last week. I am unsure if you want me to buy them or not. I am probably going to buy them today and I ´ll try and send them soon. I am kinda guessing on the sizing...

Dad-

Sounds like you had a good fun week with Jonny with wrestling and the hotsprings. It is funny to picture jonny in a little singlet all ready to wrestle. Sound like a good time up in the hotsprings. It is too bad that those hotsprings are getting so popular now-a-days. It was nice when nobody really knew about it. That was cool you ran into Ansen and his wife. He is a cool guy and yeah, he was a great example for me when I was a young scout. It´s crazy that he is already back and has his own family!

Love ya,

Elder JJ Miles

Letter #32

Bon Jour!

I was able to use a little bit of the french I know this week.  A ward from France  had a temple trip and they are always at the church.

It is crazy how much change is going on at home while I am gone. It feels like the world is spinning a mile a minute with how fast time is flying. I was able to do intercambios with one of my zone leaders and he told me ''Don´t worry it only gets faster.'' Josh applying to the U, Jenna being in High School, Jonny going to a new middle school!  There is a kid in a differenct stage of life right now! Exciting times for the family .

I am jealous to hear that you had a great time at the Taylor's! It is always so fun to go down there and be with them, not to mention the guns, four wheelers, and waffle cookies. That is really cool that Heather has decided to serve a mission. 

¿Que Lo que? Espero que toda esta hevi y tranquilo. Dominican slang :) I love the Dominicans, they are really nice and cook the best food. 

Me suena que tuviste una buena semana si tomas en cuenta que trabajaste todo los días. Estoy disfrutando el campo misional y mi llamamiento de ser líder de distrito. Por cierto hay mucho responsabilidad pero me gusta. Me ayuda a enfocarme en la obra mejor. Me siento un amor mas fuerte por los misioneros en mi distrito por que estoy serviendoles. Estoy pensando en las maneras que pueda ayudarles a progresar y mejorar. He recibido un poquito mas como siente la amor puro de Cristo, que es la caridad.  

I am not quite missing the freezing cold of Utah but it is getting a bit more fresquito here in Madrid. I am wearing my sweater every day to keep a little more warm. My mission clothes are holding up great! There are not many signs yet of the wear and tear. I am so used to wearing the missionary clothes now. Whenever I get into Pday clothes to play fútbol I feel like I am getting into the wrong clothes.

The Halloween party was a smash! Tons of people showed up and they even brought friends and family. It started off pretty slow and it was a little awkward but about an hour later (like we planned) it started to really get going. We were able to schedule a couple lessons with some non-members which was great. There was normal music which I couldn't help dancing but, I had to resist of course. Spain celebrates the Día de los Santos. I am not quite sure what the difference is between that and Día de los muerte. I baked about 75 of those little no-bake cookies for that thing and it seems like everyone enjoyed them.  All in all it turned out great.  We were all really excited on that success. One of the member told us that they hadn´t seen a party like that in Barrio 8 in a long time. 

It was a little strange having a normal day on Halloween, especially for my companion because he loves Halloween! He makes a crazy awesome costume for it every year and this year. We ended up switching sweaters and ties and we were eachother. 

The ward is doing well. Elder Anderson and I are trying to get the ward more involved with the missionary work. Last night we visited a family that cooked up a cake and hot chocolate which was delicious, very nice family needless to say :) Tonight we are going to a recent converts house for hamburgers and fries. He is from Honduras and the food there is muy paracido to the U.S.

I have my first babtismal interview to give this Thursday night. I am a little nervous but I am excited aswell. It is a 14 year girl that the hermanas are teaching, I will let you know how that goes.

Answers of the week:

What rule is the hardest to keep?

As of right now my companion and I have been doing really good on obedience. Sometimes it requires some running to get home on time but other than that obedience hasn´t been too much of a challenge.

When should Josh go on a mission? 

I think that Josh could handle the mission right after High School. I think the sooner he gets out the less destractions he can avoid. If he does stay home for anytime I think a semester would be sufficient. Intitute helped me a lot.

Can you buy some soccer shirts for the family?

I can buy some soccer shirts this next week for Pday. They are pretty pricey for the jerseys so I would probably find some Real Madrid brand t-shirts or of the sort. There are really cool Soccer Real Madrid Stores here.

How has your testimony grown since being on a mission?

I feel like my testimony has grown all around in every aspect. Josheph Smith, The Book of Mormon, Christ being my Savior. I don´t know if I can quite narrow it down. I have grown in testimony a lot being out here. 

I love you and pray for you.

LOVE you all!

Elder Jayden

Letter #31

Thanks for your words of support and love. I always look forward to getting emails. 

Elder Anderson & Elder Miles - companions

I had a pretty good week. I had an exchange with one of the zone leaders this week and I really learned a lot. I got to know a little more about their companionship and how the work is going in their area. He came to my area since I am his District Leader. I am going to do another exchage this week with the other zone leader who is not in my area. I was able to observe and learn more from his great example. It is hard being the Señor Companion all the time because I can´t always rely as much on my Jr. Companion. Elder Anderson is an awesome companion and really hard working, don´t get me wrong, it was just nice to learn again by example from someone that only has 3 weeks left in his mission. 

I have been trying to think of ways that I can show my love to my district and how to encourage them to work even harder then they are. I have been kind of stumped on what District Meetings should consist but I have just been praying and waiting for an answer. 

I had some good lessons this past week that were pretty powerful and spiritual. Sometimes I feel like just standing up and commanding people to do things because either they are stuborn or I just feel like I am full enough with the spirit that they would do it. I will let you know how that goes if I ever follow through on that. :)

That is exciting to hear that Jonny is going to the new Draper Jr, High! I am sure that that school is absolutly amazing. I am excited to hear all about his wrestling and how he is enjoying the public school life :) No more uniforms... dun dun dun! How much longer do you plan on working at APA then since there is nobody going there anymore. I am sure that they would miss you dearly since you have done so much for that school. Proud of you MOM

Well another week has flown by and I am getting prepared for another week. I am basically the only Elder in my piso that has any money left to buy food. The other 3 are going to be living on rice and sandwiches.. I don´t understand how they run out of money. I always end the month with extra money that just adds on the the next month. I know how to manage my money I guess.

A delicious Spanish pastry

What is something that has changed in you Elder Miles?

The biggest change that I have seen so far is the fact of humility. I have learned to think of others before my needs. At home I just did what ever the heck I wanted to but now I am dedicating all my time to other people. It has been a long process and not a very fun one at times but it has been worth it. 

What is something that you have learned? 

I have learned that I really do have a good singing voice. I thought that most people just had a decent singing voice but that is not the case with the majority of Elders that I have met... haha

Do you remember what your family looks like?

Of couse I remember what you all look like. Pictures definitely help :)

Do you miss our pets?

I have missed our pets. Everyone has a dog here and it is definitly more fun to come home to a big mutt that is happy to see you. Madrid is pretty dirty with the amount of dog poop and pee all over the place though...

What American meal would you have right now?

If I could eat any American meal right now at this moment it would probably be a big nice slice of pizza. Fold it in half and down a whole box! The pizza is not the same here. Hardly any sauce and the toppings are kind of strange like bacon and tuna..

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week! 

Love Elder Miles

P.S. I made the no-bake oatmeal cookies for a Family Home Evening with a non-member family and they turned out great! They enjoyed them :)

Letter #30 - 7 months

The weeks are still flying by and they continue to speed up! I feel like it hasn't even been a few days since I was sitting in the same locotorio writing emails. Seven months have already gone by and I can´t even believe it! 

I had a good week this week. I had my first district meeting and it went smooth and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I am learning a lot more about serving others with this new responsibility. I am working hard to be a good example and to have an area that others can look up to. I can feel the respossibility as DL. I pray for my district and I try my best to organize distcrict meetings the most inspired way that I can. I talked with the Zone Leader this morning and told him about everyone's baptismal dates and how their areas are doing. I have a lot to learn since I am still brand new but I am excited to learn. 

Several people were unable to meet with us this past week which was tough but we were able to contact them and encourage them. This week is going to be much better! I have been fasting since yesterday and I have had a couple things made clear to me that will help me during this week. We have an investigator who was going to be baptized this past Satuday but it didn´t end up happening. He'll be ready soon! He is an awesome guy and he likes to give us lots of food whether he cooks it himself or he buys us Burger King Whoppers or pizza! Can´t get any better than that:)  

To answer your question about the food. Every week we buy our own groceries and we make our own meals. Elder Anderson is a good cook so I am lucky if he makes me a little something. This week he made some delicious Guacamole and we enjoyed that with some doritos chips! I have become a really big fan of Guacamole since the mission! 

A few of us missionaries are organizing a big ward Halloween Party for the 1st of November. We are hoping to have a good turn out. We are hoping that people will bring their friends and we will be able to meet them and eventually teach them. It should help the ward grow closer together as well which is always good. 

The Spanish is going well. I need to speak it more with my companion because I am forgetting things since being with Elder Barragán. One of our investigators did tell me that I sound like I have been here for years, accent and all :) That was a serious boost of confidence! I am able to communicate with people on the streets and they can understand me! I still feel like I have a lot to study and learn. I can´t wait until it feels natural! That 501 verbs book did actually help a lot and I wish that I brought it with me! 

It is funny that you mentioned the missionaries that used to come and visit our family.  Elder Shumway knew Elder Spencer and Elder Summers, the ones that would always come over! While Elder Shumway was waiting for his visa he served in our neck of the woods for a transfer or 2. I think of Elder Spencer and Summers every time I go visit members. They were really good examples to me. 

Congrats dad on becoming a High Priest. The big Sumo Sacerdote! Que guay es eso! My piso companion says that all the high priests tend to not match suit jackets with their pants. Black suit coat with gray pants etc, you´ll learn the ways I guess... haha. That is exciting though! Mucho Felicidades¡

Thanks for the pictures from bear lake. You guys are seriously a cool family, I am so grateful for you guys and that I am able to be apart of your crazy crew :) Bear Lake sounded fun and delicious! I wish that I could have gone with you guys and enjoyed all those raspberries. I loved the last time that we went to Bear Lake and how we brought our bikes and rode around town and by the lake. I would definitly love to do that all over again. 

I am replenished to work another good hard week! I will return and report next week. Thanks so much for you love and your support! 

LOVE,

Elder Miles