Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Dear Wonderful Family and Friends,

I hope your Christmas Season is going well. :) I know mine is. We are seeing many miracles, especially from the video He is the Gift! Have you shared it yet? It is a wonderful tool that the church is using this season, to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Please share it! Many will be blessed because of it.

We got in contact with Sihban again! :) She's been reading since we last saw her back in begging of November. She's in Alma now! We also met Derek on Monday. He is so prepared! We just need to stay in contact with him.

We met Robin on Tuesday. She is so wonderful! We shared "He is the Gift" with her and she loved it! We also met Sarah that night. She's was a former investigator, and our other appointment fell through, so we tried her. She let us right in! It was great!

On Wednesday we met Whitney. She's had a hard life, but the gospel is the cure. We are seeing her tomorrow and I'm excited! :)

So on Saturday we got up at 4:45am, to drive down to Charlotte, to hear from an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and spoke to all the missionaries. It was a great conference! I don't even know where to begin. He really just did a question and answer. He talked about the Priesthood, Grace, and more. It was so wonderful!

Saturday night was the ward Christmas Party. It was really good, focused on Jesus Christ. We took some left over food to the Wagner's. And Sister Wagner wanted to come to church. So we got her a ride! And she came! For the first time in a few years! It was so great. She only stayed for sacrament because she's still getting over pneumonia. But it was still good to see her!

Church was wonderful as always! :) We didn't have any recent converts or investigator at church, so the missionaries went to Mission Prep to help teach.

We had dinner with the Mitchell's. They also signed up for the 26th (my 18th month mark) which is super weird, because they saw me when I first came out.

I love y'all! :) Never stop believing in yourself.

- Sister Miriah Loosle -
     John 3:16-17
  He came to save!

He is the Gift

Christmas is only in 2 and 3 days! Oh my goodness, where does time go?

This week was really good. We had exchanges and Sister Steinagel found 3 new investigators while I was in Guilford with Sister Holmon (she came out with me).

This week was also very difficult. And I did not handle some news from the ward very well. But a surprise visit from President put everything back into perspective and it's all good now. :) We got a call Saturday after exchanging back from Sister Craven asking if they could visit with us in 40 mins. My stomach dropped, because there were leaves all over the apartment! We had biked all week and it was wet, so we dragged them in. Thank goodness she didn't say anything. I think she understood.

President wanted to speak with both my companion and I, privately. So while one talked to Sister Craven on the couch, the other was in the bedroom talking to President. Let me tell you it was the weirdest interview with him I've ever had. I was sitting on my bed and he was sitting on Sister Steingal's. it was strange. But just what I needed.

At Zone Meeting we got our He is the Gift initiative cards...finally. If you haven't seen or shared the video....do so now! :) It's so great! :)

Church was great yesterday! :) Relief Society was all about Charity. It was a fantastic lesson!

The Christmas Devotional was amazing as well. My favorite was D. Todd Christofferson's talk about how we are of noble spiritual birth and we need to live up to it.

I love y'all ! :)


- Sister Miriah Loosle -
     John 3:16-17
  He came to save!

P.S. Remember don't send me anything for Christmas, I'll be having a
late Christmas at home with my family, so send it to: 

11421 Kingsgate Dr.  Austin, TX 78748

Miracles, Transfers, Thanksgiving, and Early Christmas

Happy December Y'all! :)

Goodness can y'all believe it is already December! My oh my how time flys when your having fun!

This week has been full of miracles!

But first! Nana sent me a package with some (3) presents in it. One for my companion and two for me. One of them for me and the one for Sister Pulley said to open them right now. So we did. It was fun to open presents already. The other one is under our tree. Have I told y'all about our tree? It's a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. It has 3 ordainments right now, one present, and a star (from a yellow sticky-note). It's cute! :) Nana also gave us Santa Hats.

On Monday night we had FHE with the Murchison's, who told us hey are moving in December to California! Just out of the blue! Well Brother  Murchison got a job out there.

Tuesday was transfers. I said good-bye to Sister Pulley. It has been a good past 3 months. She has grown so much! And I said hello to Sister Steinagel, from St. George, Utah. So Utah  wins 5-3 with companions.

I also said good-bye to Sister Tucker on Tuesday. That was super weird! (She was my MTC companion). So she's home now, along with Sister Kenyon (she was in my MTC district). They went home early so they can get to school on time.

Thanksgiving was fun! We went to three members homes. The Bellows for lunch. Then Sister Arny, who by the way, made my families Oreo Cream  Pie! It was great! I still have some in the fridge! I gave her the recipe last Sunday. Then we went to the Bennett's for dinner. And Sister Bennett's daughter-in-law is Sister Ball (from Kernersville)'s daughter! And she was there, so they said hi to Sister Ball for me :)

Friday we started seeing miracles! We met Keith and taught him about the Book of Mormon and have a return appointment to see him and his wife this week. We also got back in touch with the Soyars and taught the Plan of Salvation. Something else needs to click for them and I'm not sure what yet. We're going over to read with them this week. So we'll see.

Sunday we saw a lot more miracles. We decided to contact a lot of formers and part member families. Most of them have return appointments for this week and are interested! It's so amazing to see people's heart soften.

We got back in contact with Bonita! :) and she is still loving everything we teach her. We taught her about the Book of Mormon last night. Although we can't meet with her until the 20th of December. I just pray she will gain a testimony as she reads the Book of Mormon. I love y'all! :) have a great week! :)

- Sister Miriah Loosle -
    John 3:16-17
 He came to save!

P.S. Don't forget to #DiscoverTheGift #EmbraceTheGift and #ShareTheGift :) Find out more on Christmas.mormon.org The First Presidency wants to flood the world with the gift of the Savior! :) So I invite everyone who reads this to share the video "He is the Gift" with someone every week until Christmas :) that's only 4  times :)

Bible Bashers and Stake Conference

Happy Early Turkey Day!

I hope everyone has big plans for Thanksgiving! I know I do! Which brings in transfers! Duh duh duh! Well I'll be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas in Summerfield Ward! :) Sister Pulley is getting transferred :( but it'll be good. She's grown so much in the last 3 months and now it's her time to shine!

This week we ran into a bunch of people who just wanted to argue with us, or think we don't know Jesus, or believe in the same Christ. Lots of interesting conversations and I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of who God and Christ are. As I've come in contact with so many people I studied more on the subject of it. One thing I did was a personal study in the back of Preach My Gospel chapter 5. Where it says, compare Matthew 5-7 and 3 Nephi 12-14. Find what truths have been restored through the Book of Mormon. One thing I found very interesting in this study is the deity of God and Christ and their unity in purpose, but distinct beings.

For example:

1. Chapters 5 and 12 verses 21-22. God is taken out in the Bible. It's only the judgements. However, we know that they are the judgements of God and He deals them justly.

2. Verse 48 of the same chapter. Now we know that in the Book of Mormon, Christ has been resurrected and is a perfect being now, where in the Bible only Our Father was perfect. However, when speaking of Our Father in the New Testament, the word "who" was changed to "which" making God unpersonable. However, we know He is a glorified person. Not just this being thing, that is everywhere. He literally has a body of flesh and bone. We are made in His image, so He needs an image.

3. The Lords Pray was also a part where the person of God was changed to a "which" (see verse 9 of chapters 6 and 13).

4. Verse 11 of chapters 7 and 14. And also verse 21 of the same chapter.

These are just the examples in 3 chapters of scriptures. There are many others. And how grateful I am for knowledge that God and Christ are one in purpose, but are two different being, or perfect people. Sister Pulley's dad explained it more for us that the Godhead is like a presidency. God is the President, Jesus Christ the first councilor and The Holy Ghost the second councilor. God is presiding over the Plan of Salvation, but Jesus Christ is conducting the plan. Very insightful.

Stake Conference was wonderful! And oh my I saw so many Burlington people! :) it was great! I also got to see Chris! It was great! And I saw the Frei family! And the Coleman's, and the Reese's. Gah! It was great!

The messages were great too. All about setting goals and planning how to achieve them. Making a Family Gospel Plan for 2015. I encourage all to make one! Get together with your family. Set goals for how you can  Proclaim the Gospel, Redeem the Dead, and Perfect the Saints! :)

I love you all!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

- Sister Miriah Loosle -
      John 3:16-17
   He came to save!

Cold weather and Sister Loosle do not mix well!

Good Afternoon!

Last Monday as a District we went to the Greensboro Science Center! It has a Zoo, Aquarium, and Museum. It was fun! (See pictures).

The rest of this week, was normal. Well as normal as missionary work can get.

Sorry this email doesn't have a lot. I don't really know what to write right now.

I loved church yesterday! Bishop talked and he talked about being a Common Judge in Israel. Relief Society was all on prayer. It was very nice, because sometimes the answer is no. No matter how much faith as we have. Alma and his wife did not have more faith or were more righteous than Lehi and his wife. Yet Alma the younger's heart was changed and Lamen and Lemuel's were not. Sometimes we don't always like the outcome, but Heavenly Father knows us. He knows what we can handle. He knows what we need. Something Sibhan actually said this week really explains that concept. You know in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where it says we won't be tempted or tried more than we can bear. Well Sihban said that were tried and tested to the point where we HAVE to turn to God. We have to rely on The Lord. And it's true. We will make  it through everything with His help.
I love you all! :)

Miracles Happen...Just not in the way you always want them too

Good Morning Family and Friends!

This week was wonderful! Lots of little miracles. At dinners we've been doing an Endure to the End dinner thought where we have each member of the family draw out the path to eternal life and things they can do to Endure to the End.

We had FHE with Amy, Grayson, and Gavin. It went well. Gavin hasn't been sitting in our lessons, so he was a bit distracted, but overall it was good. We talked about family scripture study and family prayer.
This week we saw Sibhan a couple times. Sister Ross and her son (who just came home from his mission) came with us to one. We taught part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sibhan doesn't like praying out loud, so this has been a struggle for us. However at our appointment with her on Saturday with Sister Bellows, she prayed! :) it was simple, but wonderful!

We've met quit a few Hispanic people the past couple weeks, and as most everyone knows, I don't speak a lick of Spanish!  So it's been interesting. We teach very simple part or all of the Restoration and then spend them to the Spanish Elders! Thank goodness they're in our district! :)

We met Sister Jessup's mom this week. Let me tell you she is stubborn! But so wonderful! She doesn't want to change churches, but we served her, so maybe she's being prepared for the next life.

Church yesterday was all on Missionary Work! It was so good! My favorite was a quote from Sister Marriott that I posted on Facebook.

President Thomas S. Monson pointed out, “If you want to give a light to others, you have to glow yourself.” How can we keep that light of truth glowing within us? Sometimes I feel like a dim lightbulb. How do we grow brighter?" - sister Marriott

We grow brighter by living the gospel each day. A less active we ran into this week, said that she wakes up each days and declares that she will not part from The Lord. And although she doesn't believe the church is true anymore. I know that that small action for each of us will help us not to stray away.

- Sister Miriah Loosle -
      John 3:16-17
   He came to save!

What do you think about during the Sacrament?

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

This week was faaaannnntasitc! On Monday night we knocked on Teresa's door and she let us right in! Although she had to work late on our return appointment, she is the elect! And I am excited to work with her.

Tuesday we stopped by some members to ask them "Who do you know?" And one of the members had a water leak, so they were fixing the pipes outside their house. They had a hole in their front yard that looked like an L, about 2 by 3 by 1 foot wide and 4 feet deep. So we offered to help fill it up! In our skirts! Beat that Elders!  (See Blog Post: Beautiful Sisters serving in NC :)  )

We also saw Sister Stocker on Tuesday night. She is working through a lot of things right now. So were helping her slowly to come back to church. Starting off with setting aside 2-3 hours on Sunday, so Sunday related activities.

We actually did quiet a lot of service this week! Which I love! We helped Sister Koch clean up her house (last week we helped her make Apple Sauce). She reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. Ah well, it will come someday.

Elder Smith and I are singing "Come unto Christ" for Zone Meeting this week. It'll be good I hope!

The Trunk or Treat was this week. The first Ward activity besides Christmas for about 6 years! Crazy right? But it was pretty good. The light in the church parking lot weren't on, so it was super dark, but it was still fun! Guess what I dressed up as? Come on Guess! .... A Sister Missionary! I'm pretty sure Sister Pulley and I had the scariest costumes there! I mean no one opens the door for us and sometimes they scream "Ah Mormons!" Or slam the door!

Saturday was a great day as well! We met the Castillo's, although there's a bit of a language barrier, so we'll probably send them to the Spanish Elders, but we taught mom and three daughter. As far as we can tell, they accepted the Restoration, but we're not sure how much they understood it.

So to the subject. What do you think about during the sacrament? You don't have to answer out loud, or send me a reply, but think about it. What are you suppose to think about. We had a lesson in Relief Society yesterday about the sacrament and why we partake of it every week and not just on special occasions like other churches do. Mostly, we came up with, is because it's a covenant. And we need it! We need to make this covenant or promise, every week. Or we cannot be cleansed.

Last night Sister Fenton came out with us and we saw the Neese's. They are a sweet old southern couple. They don't come to church much because of health stuff, but they have the strongest testimonies, especially of family history and temple work. Speaking of, what have y'all don't lately with family history and temple work?

- Sister Miriah Loosle -
      John 3:16-17
   He came to save!