CZEŚĆ TEAM
This is my last group email!!! We had a wonderful week full of miracles!! We met some really prepared people! I got to accompany Sister Lexi Eindfeldt (Kamp) (my MTC teacher) on Sunday while she played the violin and that was a dream come true 💕 We were helping to make SO MANY SANDWICHES and SO MUCH SOUP for the homeless yesterday with a big group of people when the thunderstorm knocked the power out...and we all just turned on our phone flashlights and kept the assembly line going! It was so much fun and I made so many new friends. Here's my rant for the week... I think by the time most of us read Jacob 4, we know what's coming in two mere pages and are already preparing for the trudge through the vineyard--or considering skipping it all together. It's fitting that Jacob 4 gets overshadowed by its oversized neighbor, because the focus of the chapter (at least for me) is our tendency as human beings to LOOK BEYOND THE MARK. Verse 14 describes better than I could the complete blindness the Jews brought upon themselves because they were so focused on their image of the Ideal Messiah that they overlooked the carpenter's son from Nazareth (John 1:46). In this way, they fulfilled prophecy and rejected "the stone upon which they might [have built] and [had] safe foundation" (verse 15). How often do we get caught up in the details that don't...actually...matter? And I'm not just talking about clinging to debates on the distance to Kolob or worrying about which hand to take the sacrament with. But even when we talk about solid doctrinal principles--when we talk about tithing, about the Restoration, about the Fall of Adam and Eve, about commandments and marriage and self-reliance and what happens after the graveside service is over and all the funeral potatoes are gone anyways--when we talk about these things in class, in sacrament meeting, and at home, how often do we remember He who should be the center of the conversation? How often do we make a conscious effort to "gather together in one all things in Christ"? (Ephesians 1:10) I've gained a testimony of this on my mission. Some wise teacher in the MTC told me that "if the person you are teaching were asked after the lesson what they learned today, and they DON'T say something about Christ, you taught it wrong." He is my focus. He is my Savior. He atoned for me personally and for every person on either side of the Atlantic--He atoned for every person who has lived and will ever live. He did it because He loves us, and because of what He went through, He knows us perfectly. He can help us individually. He is our message to the world--and even though my formal time to share His name is over, a life spent looking towards Him is just beginning. I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve and focus on Him. And I invite you with all the sincerity of my little twenty-year-old missionary heart to invite Him to take the center pedestal in your life. Thanks for following along with me on my journey, and for all the love and support. I hope somewhere in the midst of all the pigeons, drunk men, and near-misses, you too could learn something about our Savior along with me. I'll see you soon! Until then--and always--God be with you. Z miłością (ostatni raz!!!) Siostra Miller Seriously, if anything could make me "trunky", it's the VAST OVER-PREVALENCE of plastered old men in this city and their mindset of getting to do and say whatever they want.
This week we were having a nice meeting with a dear friend. We were sitting in a back room of our obscure chapel (the third floor left side of a business complex). With the door closed, mind you. It doesn't get more "out of the way" than we were. We were sitting here, having a fantastic meeting talking about Jesus, reading some chapters out of the Book of Mormon, relating it to our lives and sharing experiences. WHEN THE DOOR OPENS. Enter Janek, Janek Crazy Horse. The moment he opened his mouth I knew EXACTLY who he was. In a flashback to the MTC 18 long months ago, I remembered Brother Everrett is telling us about this guy in Krakow who dresses up in old cowboy clothes and runs around town yelling about Native Americans. Here he was, right in front of us, saying a whole bunch of drunk things really fast. We all look up in awe and Sister Eberting asks him to leave (oh yeah, by the way I have another companion, I'm in a trio) but then he asks if he can use the "organ" and go pray (possibly meant the keyboard in the chapel?) And I guess I took pity on him because I told him to knock himself out. Approximately 5.27 seconds later we hear the window being opened and these words, directly translated from Polish Drunk Man for your ease of access: "I LOVE ALL INDIANS. I LOVE ALL INDIANS OF EVERY TRIBE. GOD BLESS EVERY. SINGLE. INDIAN." he proceeded to close his prayer in the name of Christ. At least he has the format down. We asked him to leave but he grabbed a Book of Mormon on the way out. "I remember this," he said. "Isn't this about Indians?" And I looked at my companions, shrugged, and said, "Well, in a way." We told him to keep it. NOW YOU'D THINK THIS IS THE END. but the next day, as I'm quietly practicing the piano for our musical number coming up, I'm thinking over the events of the day before and the thought pops into my mind...what if he comes back? And in that very moment he walked through the door. Scared the snot out of me, frankly. I guess the lesson learned here is that even when your chapel is hidden in the most obscure of places, and even when a spirit is hidden in the most alcohol-filled of bloodstreams, the pull of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be resisted 😅 To end this second-to-last weekly update on a somewhat spiritual note, we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) in Warsaw on Friday (oh that brings me to a whole DIFFERENT drunk man story! There are just too many!!!) and also had the privilege of hearing from our mission president, President Chandler, in the Kraków branch on Sunday, and I'd just like to testify that the Lord knows each of us personally and calls leaders who He knows can lift and inspire us. I often meet members who have slipped into the realms of inactivity due to a misunderstanding or disagreement with a leader...if that is you or someone you know to any degree, please don't let enmity towards that leader continue to fester. The only perfect leader in the Church is Jesus Christ Himself. He's got all of us imperfect, confused, bumbling people to deal with in the meantime--and honestly, most of us are really trying our best. So even when something is said or done that's tough to forgive, please remember that Christ knows all of our hearts and that He uses even these rough patches to perfect us--but we can't afford to throw in the towel, get offended, and get off the boat. I love you all! Have a great week! Z miłością, Siostra Miller Hi team!
Yep, you read it right. This week (Wednesday, July 10) marks EIGHTEEN MONTHS of me wearing this name badge and running around trying to tell people about Jesus. For those who have asked/have gotten confused by my sudden appearance on Facebook a couple months ago and my post about leaving my last city--I'm actually still kickin' it out here in Poland! I get to do a few extra weeks out here because of the 9-week transfer system, and will be gracing the good land of America in T-minus 3 weeks. But not yet:)) This week dear Ania got baptized and it was BEAUTIFUL. SHE IS BEAUTIFUL. and has the most wonderful and strong testimony. I'm amazed by this group of strong YSA women in this branch and their love & outreach in bringing their friends into the gospel. Their testimonies burn so bright and the Church's future in Kraków is in good hands thanks to these ladies. They really love their Savior 💕 We had some other ups and downs this week, but I'll continue in true Missionary Group Email Home fashion and only tell you the highlights, thus giving people back home a slightly skewed version of what it's like to serve a mission (please remember it's devastatingly, heart-wrenchingly hard too! Both for those still out here and those of us who have already come home. Reach out and smile, no matter how positive and upbeat we sound). We met President and Sister Chandler and their family!!! Amazing people, and yet it's SO jarring to have an American family leading us! WALKING ON WATER: We found out on our bus home from zone conference on Thursday that the elders had used the last of their baptismal record forms-- a triplicate form you have to fill out the day of the baptism. With Ania's big day coming up on Saturday, and with the sheer distances between areas in our mission (teaching areas can be anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours across by train), we didn't have time to have it mailed to us. And Friday morning, with the Katowice missionaries still tearing apart their apartments and chapel searching for a form, Sister Christensen and I decided to get on a bus to Katowice, having faith that God would provide our form for us if we were willing to take the time and funds to go out there. We still didn't know if they had the form until we'd walking up the stairs and into the chapel, when one of the elders held it up triumphantly and said it had shown up out of nowhere and was their second to last one. We grabbed the form, thanked those missionaries and God and turned right back around 😂 "...Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (thanks Ether 12:6) We joked that it took faith for Peter to step out onto the water towards Christ in the first place, knowing he might drown. For that story, read in Matthew 14 :)) (luckily nobody got close to drowning this trip). And, I straight up got left behind by a bus yesterday. My companion had already gotten on and I guess I wasn't assertive enough in following her because the bus driver snapped the doors closed as I was stepping on and then drove away! I had to hike a little to meet up with my companion again, but I laughed the whole way, and that actually was just exactly the comedic relief I needed to have a better day 😂 God works in mysterious ways. Hope y'all have a wonderful week. Don't know how it is back home, but the weather is beautifully cool here and life keeps moving right along. God loves us and has a plan for each of us! Z miłością, Siostra Miller Hi friends and family!
Wowowow Kraków is a magical land indeed. We had a wonderful week full of exploring, teaching, stress, Korean food, Kraków pretzels, more stress, meetings, craziness, and stress! Because we are suddenly the only two missionaries in this GIANT city, (elders now serve in Rzeszów) we have double the people to teach and meet with and double the work to do. We are managing, we just have to remember to slow down and take deep breaths :) I have seen so many of my wonderful friends that I love and have missed and also made so many new wonderful friends this week alone! Who knew that Kraków had such good things in store. We saw some SERIOUS miracles this week. A woman and her adorable child who live out near Aushwitz self-referred themselves and they are just the coolest! We are working with some amazing members and soon-to-be-members as well. Lots of love here. Also there were SO MANY PEOPLE AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY. Probably at least forty! I was amazed! AND SOMEONE BLESSED THE SACRAMENT IN ENGLISH it honestly shocked me! It felt so raw, but I could feel the power :) Kraków (also known as Cracow) gets a LOT of tourists and BYU interns and the like so we have lots of new friends here :) Today we visited the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine! There are multiple chapels and a full scale operating cathedral (people even get married way down there!). Lots of sculptures made of salt, too. We walked down like fifty flights to start the tour. I'll include a couple pictures, but it was WAY fun. (And no, Dad, I didn't lick the wall. I trust the tour guide that it's salt). Okay yes a million things happened but that's about all I have the strength to write, haha. SO MUCH LOVE TO Y'ALL. thanks for hanging in there. I'm so grateful for this church and for the chance to serve in one more area and meet more amazing people. I'm always blown away by the dedication of some people to activity...regardless of family health, distance, work, etc. they find ways to be there as often as they can and help wherever they are able. SO COOL. I know that God's hand is in their lives and ours, every day, and He is just waiting to bless us:) Z miłością, A Very Exhausted (yet happy) Siostra Miller WHAT. A. WEEK.
They really oughta make a movie out of this whole adventure of a mission. First, I'd like to publically apologize to all the people I accidentally psyched out by that Facebook post...I'm peacing out of BYDGOSZCZ, but have still got a few weeks of overtime to spend in the country :)) going strongggggg 5 cities in 6 days, speaking in church, moving across the country, starting more rumors about myself, and a full scale police interrogation (wait, what? Let's back up on that one). We're happily taking our morning studies on Tuesday when we get a call from the Warsaw office informing us that Sister Lueck has been summoned to the government building. THINKING that I know everything about the Polish card system at this point, we collect all our documentation and make the trek on down. After waiting in the obligatory DMV-like lines, we finally get an audience with somebody--who acts confused and says that we were never summoned here at all. She traces the phone number, talks to someone on the other end of the line, and tells us that she's set up an appointment for us at, quote, "a different government building across town"... FLASH FORWARD TWO HOURS We are sitting in a police interrogation room and being asked all sorts of questions from our backgrounds and education to our residency in Poland and our proselytizing. We have to hand over ministerial certificates and Sister Lueck's documentation and they take detailed notes of our daily activities. Upon being asked to declare our goal for being there, we boldly recite the missionary purpose. We were asked all sorts of questions about whether we are being forced to serve and whether we force others to join our "sect"...and I attempt to prove the legitimacy of the missionary department by showing them emails from friends serving everywhere from Bolivia to Uganda to Japan. After extensive questions about the Church and our proselytizing efforts, we're wiped and stressed as ever...but they close the files, smile, shake our hands, and release us on our way. Nice officers. THERE WERE ANGELS IN THAT INTERROGATION ROOM. In other news, I've been transferred to the complete opposite end of the country (KRAKÓW HERE I COME) and had to say goodbye to all of my wonderful friends and family in Bydgoszcz. Seven months gone like that. We had some great exchanges (S/O to my MTC homie/future roomie Sister Godfrey & wonderful Sister Baldwin who gave it her darndest to *try* and teach me Spanish this week). President Szymański asked me to give my farewell talk in church 😢😢 I spoke about all the roles Jesus Christ has played on my mission (SO MANY...from a Comforter to an Older Brother to a Coach and Teacher to the most important...literally my Savior). We visited my Protestant friends over at Harbor Church and they were so kind and wished me well/blessed me and my journey going forward. Such great, Christ-centered people. Sister Lueck found out her GREAT GRANDPA WAS BORN IN BYDGOSZCZ. How this wasn't discovered earlier in our 6 months in the area I don't know. More research will be conducted by her because the line is a dead end (THE RECORDS ARE ONLY HERE IN THE CITY. God works in mysterious ways). Super grateful for all the lessons I learned in Bydgoszcz. I spent some of the darkest days of my mission/life in that town but also saw some of the most beautiful and tear-jerking miracles. What a ride. God has a plan, no matter where you find yourself. And Christ is there not only when you've "given your all" and sputtered out short of the finish line, but He is there the WHOLE JOURNEY, helping and bearing you up. Don't forget to acknowledge His work in your path 💕 Lots of love from whatever random field I am in during my train ride somewhere between Bydgoszcz and Warsaw. It's a beautiful field. I wish y'all could see it. Z miłością, Siostra Miller Hello friends and family!
I'm sorry, I am SUPER short on time today because of...projects. HOWEVER. In true Wannabe Sister Lauren Hall fashion, I'm reverting to bullet points today.
Can't remember what else happened, sorry team. BUT. I'm grateful to still be kickin' it out here and I love getting to focus on just helping God's children here in Poland. Service is for sure my favorite time--I'm just buckets and loads happier on days when we get to engage in some sort of service activity. SO, baby theory here, but...I think service is a good thing? Here's to hoping that you find a time this week to serve someone the way the Savior would--even in the smallest way. Those little moments have a big impact that we hardly ever see. And I know that our Savior is always proud of us when we help out in ways big and small. LOTS OF LOVE! z miłością, Siostra Miller Let's talk about quarantines, infection, and lightbulbs.
Sister Lueck and I managed to catch ourselves a nice bacterial infection and we got quarantined inside our house this last weekend--I think more because they were worried we would infect other people than for our own good. I mean, we are supposed to be sharing the good news, not streptococcal pharyngitis. And that's just it--yesterday evening I was sitting out on our porch when my friend Ola from Katowice called to chat about a few different things going on in our lives. At one point we were talking about Matthew 5, specifically the part where Christ tells us we are the salt of the earth and that we ought to not hide our lights. Ola went on a signature Long Polish Rant about how important this is--and I agree. Ola's just graduated high school with an emphasis in mechatronics, so she knows a thing or two about electricity. She was comparing Christ to the electrical source and us to the lightbulbs--the light really comes from Him but we have to be the ones willing to shine it. He works through us. (She used much bigger and fancier words that I don't know in ENGLISH, let alone Polish, so excuse my not-very-scientific approximations). And despite the fact that His Apostles were seeing Him every day--living, breathing, walking, talking Him--they had weaknesses and lacked faith and stumbled around every once and a while. Sometimes, they had less faith than WE do!!! And Christ still commanded THEM to go forth and teach all nations (Matthew 28:19), despite their weaknesses. Here, Ola said something I really liked--as Christians, we ought to be infectious. We ought to want to share this light that Christ gives us, by honestly loving and serving and being kind to others, and doing that with the best intentions--not just for others to see or appreciate. Anyways. I love Christ and I'm so grateful for His Atonement that makes it possible for me to clean my lightbulb constantly (the analogy could go so many different directions here 😂) and for His example to me, so that even with my imperfections (of which there are OH SO MANY) I get to be out here working alongside Him every day. ALL MY LOVE-- z miłością, Siostra Miller I hear rumors that it's still raining cats and dogs back home, so rest assured it's been pretty rainy here too. YESTERDAY and TODAY have been sunshine-y, though, so we are taking full advantage of the warmer weather :))
THIS WEEK we had a wonderful time at dear Sister Danuta's for a traditional Polish lunch and making a game plan for getting ministering started here in the branch! super exciting! We also got together with our dear friend Karolina and jammed out on the guitar because she had the great idea to go out and "praise Jesus" together on the street and have people join us. We had some good laughs getting ready to do it and then actually playing on the street on Saturday--SO MUCH FUN. we had a blast together, met some new friends, prayed, and connected in new ways. this interfaith stuff is GREAT! but I wrecked my hand from playing the guitar for a while!! gotta re-build those calluses! WE SAW SISTER KAMP....well I guess now Sister Einfeldt!!! She and her husband are currently living in Warsaw doing an internship and came to Bydgoszcz for the weekend to visit with old friends. SO COOL to see her, it was pretty weird and kind of felt like going home--but the best part was I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS SAYING IN POLISH NOW, and it was pretty satisfying to translate for her in church on Sunday :) FULL CIRCLE KIDS. full circle. super grateful for all the good things going on right now that are keeping me going! Bydgoszcz is a great place and it's easy to see why God sent me here. I've met some of my best friends here and am forever grateful that God allowed us to cross paths and be in one anothers' lives. Service is forever my favorite part of missionary work--and like we read this last week with the Come, Follow Me guide, when we are serving other people we are really serving Christ. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! z miłością, Siostra Miller
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