Canada Calgary Mission - President and Sister Miles

Last week we completed our Zone Conferences with our southern zones. We have already come to love Zone Conferences and the chance to be with our missionaries and learn and train together. We are so impressed by their faith and desire to serve and the highlight of each conference is the testimony meeting at the end. They are so uplifting for us. These missionaries are each coming to know the Savior as they never have before.
These zones also loved the game portion we implemented and are happy to know we will be doing it at each zone conference...but they also know they better get studying Preach My Gospel, the White Handbook, and the scriptures, because the questions come from these three sources!
We have also had some beautiful musical numbers in our conferences. We have some talented missionaries--violinists, pianists, singers, etc. It is so fun to see them share their talents.
We also were able to attend our first Corn Bust here in Canada. There is a city named Taber in southern Alberta--where we had one of our zone conferences-and it is famous for the corn it grows. So, our missionaries there invited us to their ward's corn bust. Everyone just brings any potluck dish, and then they have tons of corn and big cubes of butter to roll it in. And let me tell you--it is delicious corn! We thoroughly enjoyed it and it was fun to meet the ward members and the bishop.
This week we traveled to BC for our zone conference there. It is usually such a beautiful ride, but because of the fires in Washington and Montana it is so filled with smoke that you can't even see the mountains! So we were a little bummed about our 4 hour ride not being breathtaking like it usually is.
We also attended the Calgary East Stake Conference this weekend, where Steve spoke twice in the priesthood session, we both spoke in the Saturday evening session, and then again on Sunday morning. With as little time to prepare as we have we have learned to trust in the Lord for what we should say. Steve is much better at that than I am because he has done it so much in the past in his callings. But, I can say that I am learning that Heavenly Father opens your mind and helps you to know what He wants said in the meeting. We have both learned that we can't neglect our personal scripture study--it is vital for us to have the spirit with us. And as we do that each day, we are given what we need when we need it. I am continually amazed at the guidance we receive--and I am learning to trust in it better, and not worry and panic inside about what I should say. Here we are teaching our missionaries that if they prepare and study they will be given 'in the very hour' what they should say--and I am learning it myself in a very personal way.
This week we will hold another Mission Leadership council meeting on Wednesday, and prepare for our upcoming visit by Elder James B. Martino of the Quorum of the Seventy next week. We are looking forward to having him come. We have had some training with him before we even came out, and then we got to visit with him a bit in the MTC, and he is so nice and fun. We will enjoy him coming and teaching our missionaries.