Week 4- Elder Holland is the Man

YOOOOO

-Elder Holland spoke to us yesterday and it was so good i am shook.

- he said that dont worry if you feel homesick or if you feel discouraged, take courage in the thousands of missionaries that have come before you, and take hope in the thousands that will come after you.

- he also said, "don't miss your apostolic moment" and like wow. We are engaged in the most important work in the universe, the salvation of the human family. I am so so so so so thankful to be able to be a missionary.

- President henderson (my branch president) told me that he knows I'll be a good missionary if I work hard but oh my gosh I am so hype.

- So I got a letter from my mission president and he told me that the day I get to Germany I will start proselyting that day!!! I meet my trainer tuesday, February 12th and I leave for my area Wednesday the 13th. I dont have my travel plans yet but talking with this girl who works at the travel office we convinced her to look up our departure times, I leave the mtc at 6 in the morning and my first flight is at 11. Haha it was fun, I don't think she was supposed to though but my comp laid on the charm and I helped out and she was about to give us our flight plans but then we had to leave.

- Cool story (skip if ur short on time)

SOOOOOOO we were doing a workshop on finding through members and for this roleplay we had to practice making commitments and we had to act as a member. This sister in my district, sister Bice, was paired with this puerto rican. She usually just uses her first name but she decided to use her friends name who is on a mission (in puerto rico). and the missionary hears the first name and he has trouble saying it and he says do you know a Mackenna? and she says yeah shes on a mission. and he goes is she sister so and so, I met her before my mission shes in puerto rico right? and GUESS WHAT. SAME SISTER. So he wrote a note giving a list of his less active family and wrote and told her to teach his mom who was a member but a drug addict. Sister Bice then emailed the info to her friend but like the weirdest connection and all through a first name. I know that God's hand was behind it. He is the master of all and oh man it was amazing to witness God's plan for his children unfold, I know God is mindful of all of us and that he loves us beyond belief.

- The scripture I want to share: 2 Nephi 31:21, I Love this scripture and I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we are saved. I know that if we rely on him and His doctrine we will be happy and have joy. This week I've been focused on Christ and the blessings that come from following him and I know that all good things come from God.

Give my love to all,

Elder Miner

This is picture we got from a random stranger.  It made our day!

Week 3 -Hey y'all

This weeks email is gonna be shorter cause tbh not much has happened. - classes are fun  - my german is rad and im learning so much - my district has dope handshakes -i got a haircut (literally the most exciting part of my week) Story time: (skip if ur in a rush lmao) anyways i got a haircut this week and I was talking to my barber his name is jay, anyways jay is just one of those people that you meet and you love him. hes a shorter bald man and by shorter i mean my height lmao. He turned out to have lived in arizona for 26 years when he was younger and he was talking about what mesa was like when he was younger versus what its like now. But he was just giving me advice on my hair but its like one of those things where it really was about something else. His hair advice was about my mission. he told me to make sure that I put in effort every day and that would mean different things at different times. He told me that no matter how long or short my hair was (no matter how strong your testimony) dont forget to look your best (always keep trying in the gospel). I dont know if any of this makes sense bu Jay just spoke to me. What a G. He cut my hair pretty short and took some of the weight out of it. usually haircuts at the mtc are 15 minutes but mine was like half an hour and he was just giving me life advice. I seriously was about to cry he spoke to my soul. needless to say I love Jay. he said hair or no hair (hes bald) who you are is who you are and the only thing we can do it work on ourselves till we get better. Okay back to the email. - Elder Carlos A. Godoy spoke to us yesterday and he shared his conversion story and it was so powerful. he shared that "The Lord is preparing you to teach those who are lost, but who are not lost to him" and that is so powerful. I know that no one is lost unto Christ and that he invites us to all come unto him. I know that God loves you, not in the abstract god loves everyone, but in a very real and personal way. he knows your name and knows your pains and struggles and trials. Really really good talk. - Life is super fire I love you all Scripture: James 1:22- "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, decieving your own selves" If you have faith in christ DO something about it!! Share a scripture with someone this week! give my love to all, Elder Miner

Week 2- The Gang gets humbled

Okay okay so I wll make this quick

- The MTC rocks

- My district is seriously the best

- my branch president is not afraid to call anyone out and he called a lot of us out on not being exactly obedient.

- my friend in my district who is like 6'6" ate ten corndogs one day for lunch

Long story (if ur in a rush u can skip this part, more down below.)

-  This week has actually been a little harder because the first week they were basically like oh man you are a missionary how awesome, but this week i felt like a lot of it was listen if you want to be an amazing missionary you have to be doing this this and this. And to be honest a lot of my shortcomings as a missionary got pointed out to me by the spirit. Dont get me wrong I love the mission, but i dont want to be one of those missionaries who writes home that everything is flowers and rainbows cause those are the types of emails i sent to my spam folder (sorry to those of you who got sent there who are now reading my emails). I learned this week that i need to be more diligent in my scripture study. But it was so sweet i have been praying this whole week and focusing my thoughts and study on whats holding me back from being a better missionary. Then during choir the leader or whatever spoke and I swear it felt that he was looking right at me and it was only us two in the room and he said essentially that dont worry so much on what you need to do, but focus on whom youre trying to become more like, which is our savior. he then said, still looking at what felt like right into my soul. "You are here, a mission is a finish line in itsself, the work wont be easy and you will need to grow, but just remember that getting here on a mission is a victory in and of itself". WOW.It felt like an answer to prayer right then. I started crying in the midle of choir because I felt my saviors love for me right then and right there. I KNOW that he loves me, and that he loves you. he cares about you and is mindful of you right this second. anyways thats the story.

- Scripture I wanna share this week: Alma 26:37 from the book of mormon.  God is mindful of you in all your struggles and trials.

- Ummm idk what else to say, send me questions u want me to answer next week i guess lmao.

- ALSO, went through the temple again last week and WOW. (if ur not a member and wanna learn more about the temple and ur reading this lmk and i can send a few people your way wink wink)

-Apparently in germany instead if saying wow they make like a mini explosion noise that sounds like bwoaaa and i think its super funny, 3 out of the 4 teachers I have said they heard it all the time on their missions but one said he rarely heard it (german speakers pls comfirm or deny) 

Anyway I love you all and wish you the best!!

with much love

Elder Miner

Week 1

Hey all! this week has been super duper fun!!  I am in a trio with two amazing elders! Elder Beem is from Portland Oregon and elder lambert is from Logan Utah! Our district is the best each one of them is supr obedient and fun and funny! There are ony two german districts (about 10 missionaries each) in the whole mtc so we squad up a lot and hang out. All the german elders and I are close and we always make sure we greet and say goodbye with a hug (a not very german greeting.) Speaking of german, I have learned so much already in the MTC. I have Joseph Smith's first vision memorized and am working on Moroni 10:3-5. It is so cool to see the lord bless my efforts and I know I could never learn this quick by myself.

I have made lots of friends in the MTC and can say "I am Elder Miner" in like 8 languages. I then want to learn other phrases. The russians and the french elders are my favorite. I love the spirit that is here in the mtc. The biggest thing I've learned is to just forget myself and get to work. it isn't about me, I have been called to invite others to come to christ and feel his love for them and the best way I can do that is to forget about my own worries. There was a scripture shared in a devotional that whosoever shall lose his life for my sake therein shall find it. I want to lose myself in serving my savior. I love you all and I'd love to hear from you all! the day I can email is Wednesday but I can read emails any time.

Anyways, with much love

Elder Miner

Elder Lambert, Elder Beem and Elder Miner

I made it to the MTC!

We received this email about 15 minutes after we dropped him off😂.

Hey guys,

I am writing to let you know that everything is all good!! I am in a trio with two dope elders, one is Elder lambert and Elder beem. My P-day is on wednesday! I/ll email yiou guys more then!

busy busy, 

Elder Miner

Thanks to Michael Shaw we got a picture about an hour later.

The drop-off

Michael, Elder Miner, Elder Beem and Elder Lambert