GINGERBREAD SHAKES!!! (and Elder Bruce Porter)

Lovely week here in California! Lots and lots going on in the Holiday Season. We have so many great people that we are working with and they all have so much potential. They are just fantastic loving people who really want to come closer to the Savior.

Sad news of the week was the passing of Bishop Lee from Los Banos. After his long battle with cancer he has finally left this mortal life. If you could include his family in your prayers I am sure that they are in need of all the extra love and support right now. Bishop Lee was a stupendous Bishop and a wonderful leader in the community as well. I continue to reflect on the lessons that his example has taught me.

Service painting this week! Yellow kitchens anyone? It was a lot of work but it turned out nicely and it felt good to help out. (We aren't going to talk about how even my sweat pants are getting tight...yikes! Modesto-nians just like to feed us too much!! haha).

Speaking of food... I ate what was probably the MOST spicy enchilada of my life this week! I took the first bite and tears just came flooding to my eyes. Hna Parra was just cracking up laughing at me haha. It was pretty funny. The members said oh this is a little spicy as they ate theirs haha. But it was tasty!

Nativity Festival!! Modesto's Ninth annual Nativity Festival was this week in our gym here in the chapel. It was pretty awesome. Trees and lights and entertainment and hundreds of nativity scenes. I am sending you a picture of one of the coolest ones made out of gourd in Kenya. Then it was topped off by the culminating even of the Christmas Devotional. Basically a great week to be serving in Modesto Stake ;)

New Investigators this week from the Elders!! It is a family of three and they are "Golden". That is it in a nut shell. Single mom and her two kids. They don't really have much a strong foundation and so they suck everything up like sponges. We split teach them and so my companion teaches the mom and I teach the kids. The youngest daughter isn't baptismal age but she is a cutie who wants to show me every thing she owns haha. The 1st time we taught them the kids didn't even know the name Jesus Christ and by the end of the lesson they had all prayed and ahhh it was just so inspiring. Seriously what could be better than that?

Funny of the week? Well it is funny now but at the time I thought I was going to get punched in the face. haha. So we are looking for a referral's house. (Meaning that I have never been there before.) We find it and pull over and this woman walks by the car on the driver's side (my side) and she looks in at us and mouths, "what do you want?". I ignore it and keep minding my own business preparing to go meet the referral. Then this woman turns around walks back toward us and raps on my window looking very angry and says "Excuse me!". I roll down the window, and she demands to know who I work for. I inform her that "We are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints". She then disbelievingly asks if I am sure I don't work for anyone else. I hold up the name tag attached to my shirt and told her yes. She then says, "oh ok then. God Bless." and walks away. I call out the window after her and ask if there is anything we can do for her and she just said to pray for her. So then I asked her name... "Holly". And yes I have been praying for her. (I think I am really learning how to love people... like all people... even when they are mean or strange).

Also this week was a Special Zone Conference with a General Authority Elder Bruce D. Porter from the 1st Quorm of the 70! It was pretty great. Really if you want to know what he told us you can just read the conference talk by Brother Funk. Enduring to the End and Prayer. Don't give up on anyone and don't become complacent! (Also yummmmmmmy Gingerbread shake at Red Robin afterwards may have contributed to how excellent my day was haha).

Romans 8:31 "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can a be against us?"

Ephesians 3:17 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,"

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!! LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Miller

P.S. Zorro mean Fox in Spanish?!?! That was probably my favorite thing I learned this week. (Just think the Mask of Zorro... mind blown).