HeLlo FrOm FlOrIdA!

Hello Family!

It was great to hear from each of you! And I loved the pictures of Reece! I hope you will send me some more pics in the mail sometime. : ) I am going to print off the pictures you sent me but I would always love to see more pictures. : )

So let me first tell you about my week and maybe that will answer some questions: Well
I am starting the beginning of week four of the transfer and after this week there will only be two left (six weeks to a transfer). I do not think I will be transferred.

And yes, everyone else besides Elder Holland is counting down his days left (three weeks). It was even announced in church, ha, ha. : ) He loves the mission so he's sad to go but excited to start the next part of his life.

We have a LOT of new investigators now: Nikki Y. is back on board and has changed her mind about us "not teaching her anymore." A week ago she told us that she wasn't going to read and pray. But she said that the week that followed was horrible and everything went wrong. She said she knew she had made the wrong decision and that she wanted to be baptized in a month. Her husband was surprised at her choice but I think he will want to be baptized, too.

On Tuesday the Lord blessed us with nine new investigators! Four of them were Anthony, Marcus, Richard, and Jesse, all friends from their neighborhood and students at E. R. High. We taught them the first lesson as they were "chilling" outside in Richard's front yard and we set a return appointment. The rest of our new investigators is a family of eight!! The Mc. family is from Jamaica or somewhere like that and they are a great family: The mom and dad, the grandma, the oldest son(21), Adolf(18), Ramone(16), Naomie(11) and Harmonie(8?) (We taught five of them on Tues. and one on Sunday). They are great individuals. We taught them all the second lesson on the plan of salvation last night. what a wonderful experience! This will be a big baptismal service! They don't have dates ...yet, but they will soon. : ) Then there is Kathy T. (Brother S's sister) and she is taking the lessons because of David's primary program. She has been coming to church every Sunday ever since! I love teaching the gospel!

On Friday it rained and Saturday, too, pretty hard. But it cleared up later that day and ever since it has been BEAUTIFUL weather!

We had FHE on Monday with the D. family and will again tonight with them, the R's, and Marcy and Christine (members). We are carving pumpkins tonight!! Reece I can't wait to see those of pictures of your pumpkin and everything else. I will send pics of ours and some other things I have been up to. Like going to the top of Citrus Tower later today!

Our ward's Fall Festival was on Saturday and we really had fun! We ran the three-legged race and the kids and adults loved it! We won one of the costume contests (dressed as missionaries : ) Ha, ha. And we were given a giant pumpkin cake (shaped like one). I thought of you guys going to the Sixth Ward fall festival and I missed going with you. On Sunday we taught Primary about missionary work and encouraged them all to invite their friends to the upcoming Primary activity: Children all over the world.

Well, that was my week in a nutshell. I continue to pray for all of you each and everyday.
I wish you the best dad, you're in my prayers! Mom, I am glad you enjoy being a librarian and hope that you continue to grow in your new job. Remi, I am glad your birthday is coming up and you should be expecting something in the mail soon. ;-) You too, Reece. And Reece, I'm glad you had fun at Harvest and look forward to getting some more pics! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!

Love,

Elder Miller

From Florida with Love! Oct. 20, 2008

TOP PHOTO: Leesburg Zone Development Meeting! Practice for Zone Conference Choir. (Elders: Harris, ?, Chittock, Miller, Sprague and Barnes).

SECOND PHOTO: District Meeting! Left to right, Elders: Bell, Adams, Le Bel, Peterson, Burdick, O'Brien, Parker, Miller, Carlisle & Holland.

BOTTOM PHOTO: My first Apartment Group: Me, Elders: Holland, Carlisli and Le Bel.

Hello Family!

It is so good to hear from you! We had a lesson on Sunday about Joseph smith and how he would write his family when he was gone for so long doing the work of the Lord. It made me think of writing you each week and how much love I feel for each and everyone of you.

Reece you almost made me cry right here in the library, ha, ha, but I held back the tears. : ) I miss you, too, Bro! I miss our planning for snowboarding and warthog wars and going to the mall with you and everything, but I know I am doing the right thing as well in sharing the gospel out here in Florida. :) Congrats on nearing the completion of your Eagle project! I can't wait till we have another Eagle in the Family! I know, I can't believe how fast time passes and yet how much time is left. My companion goes home Nov. 19th and he is having a hard time thinking about it because he loves being a missionary. I’m glad I still have a lot of time to fully serve the Lord as a missionary. Halloween birthdays and dances, WOW. Sorry I am missing all of them but I will be with you in spirit. : ) I love you, Reece!

Remi, I love you bud. It is so good to hear about your week. I am glad you are having fun with church, school and mom and dad. : ) I wish I could be there with you to play Legos but I know you know that I am serving a mission for the Lord. I love you, Remi!

Mom, I'm glad your job just keeps getting better and better! I continue to keep you in my prayers with your new responsibilities and I’m so happy for your success. : ) I am glad you love the pictures (I knew you would!) Mmm... about Nikki, she still needs to read and pray about the book of Mormon and she hasn't yet, but we will keep working with her. She is supposed to come to Sacrament for the first time this week so we'll see. : ) I LOVED THE PACKAGE! It was a big surprise and my roommates love the candy. : ) (And the scriptures). I sent my voting stuff already so it is in the mail and will arrive there on Wed., Thurs. at the latest. I hope that is ok. : ) Voting is not till the 12th of Nov. or something I think. But regardless it is already on its way along with some other stuff. : ) Thanks for the CDs! I only have like 5 so it gets boring sometimes to listen to the same music over and over, so I appreciate the new music. : ) Yes my debit card works, I just have a missionary card that I buy all my food and personal items with, : ) but thank you for watching out for me. :) And yep, I bought stamps so I can send more letters. : ) The new elder is Elder Sprague (no relation to Mr. Sprague as far as he knows) and he is a funny guy. Well, I am going to send this portion of the email now and send the second in a second. Bye . . . Hello again!!

So thank you for the pumpkin! It really made my day! It makes me think of Halloween with you guys. : )

GO EL D!!!!!!!! I am so happy for them with the sweepstakes for BOTH competitions! I miss band a lot.

Dad, I’m glad you didn't fall asleep again. : ) I got your letter (e-mail) though in the mail a few days ago so I was happy. : ) I am amazed at all the support from the Ward, but not surprised. I know we have an awesome ward. : ) I am glad you are finding such friendship in the ward. The Best Two Years is a wonderful movie. : ) That play sounds pretty neat too. It sounds like your doing some wonderful things both inside and outside of the ward. : ) Keep it up. And thank you for all you do for me. : ) I know the Lord will bless you and that everything will work out.

Well, my week was awesome. We had another Zone conference and I got to see all my friends from the MTC. : ) Elder Johnson from the Seventy came to our conference and he really inspired us! I have been directing the music in each conference and will probably continue to do so for a while.

Oh, and at the start of this transfer I became the driver for my companionship; it's fun. I like driving the new Corrolla.

This Sunday I spoke in church along with Elder Holland. I also conducted the music and taught gospel principals class. It was an eventful Sunday! : ) I enjoyed it a lot and the members said they could really feel the spirit. I was glad to vote for Prop 8 and I have some advice for you as you go door to door: Just tell the people who aren’t sure which way they are voting (if they read the Bible) that it was Adam and Eve NOT Adam and Steve! Ha, ha. I got that from my companion.

We have has a little bit of rain in the past few weeks but not much. Right now the weather is perfect!!

I had the thought for you to contact Elder Bobo and Elder Woodhouse and tell them the impact that their missionary work has had on our lives. I spoke about it on Sunday in my talk on Sister Silvia H. Allred's conference talk. I could really relate to her because of how important missionary work is to me. : )

My friend Valerie Harris from BYU-I is in High School Musical 3. (We have a mutual missionary friend out here serving with me).

Well, everything is great out here and we have 8 new investigators! I continue to grow each day and love the work. I love each of you and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Love, Elder Miller

First Baptism Photos!

10-13-08

Hi, Dad, Mom, Reece and Remi,

How are you doing? Dad, I hope everything is going well with you. I pray for you every day. Mom, I have been praying for you also, about your new job and I know Heavenly Father is helping you with your new responsibility at Golden West. Congratulations again! I am so happy for you to be working there! : ) Reece, I really hop everything works out with your Eagle project and I will pray for you, too. I commend you for working so hard on your project and I’m excited to get some pictures in the near future of you all dressed up in Eagle attire! Remi, good job singing in the Stake Primary Choir! I just know that the spirit was strong in that meeting!

I want each one of you to know how much I love you!

So, I’m really excited to send you these pictures, mainly because of David S’s baptism pictures! I wrote on the back of some of them to explain who is in the pictures. The first one is my favorite! [Elder Miller with a smiling David S.!] I hope you enjoy the pictures and are able to feel a part of what is going on out here with missionary work. I had the opportunity to teach David the lessons and hope to have the opportunity to teach many more people the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for all your support! Love you!
Love,
Elder Miller
(Ryan)

Greetings from Florida! October 13, 2008

Hello my family!

It was so good to hear from you!

Reece: My mission is going well! I just had my first baptism on Saturday (Oct. 11th) and I am sending pictures asap so all of you can see them. : ) David S. is such a sweet kid and EVERYONE loves him! I love that movie the best two years and am glad you thought of me when watching it. I hope to see it soon on a p-day because I love that movie and it is one of the approved movies we can watch on p-days. Ya, my apartment is really nice! I mean you can definitely tell that missionaries have lived in it (some missionaries don't take care of the apartments) but it is very nice and we have a fancy pool (which we don't use), a weight room, and a clubhouse with free hot chocolate. I sent some pics on that CD of me outside the apartment, but I will send some of the inside next time. : ) I'm so sorry about the mix up with your Eagle project. Will it still count for your Eagle?? I really hope so. Well, I just want you to know that I miss you and realize how good I had it at home with you as my brother and my whole family! I visited a members home last night and one of their little boys looked just like you at that age Reece. it made me miss the old times. But I love you and am having such a good experience out here! Talk to you soon (by the way, who are your teachers?)

Remi: Sounds like you have had a really fun week, Remi! :) I am really glad you and Jared are still good friends and that you got to spend the night. : ) So how did your Stake Primary thing go? I bet the spirit was really strong!! Especially with you singing in it. I miss you bud. I had a really neat baptism on Saturday that I wish you could have been there for. David (he's nine years old) was baptized and it was really neat to see him follow Jesus Christ in baptism, just as you did a few years ago. My mission is going great and I am having a lot of cool experiences. I will send pics of David's baptism today. : ) Love You.

Mom: I love you mom. It was so good to hear from you. I loved David's baptismal service on Saturday and really enjoyed seeing him make that commitment in his life. I was so grateful to be involved so much in the service! I did have the opportunity to stand on the confirmation circle as well as being one of the witnesses for the baptism. : ) Elder Holland and I also did a special musical number, "Teach me to Walk in the Light," which I arranged for David's baptism. Wish you could have heard it. : ) Nikki is doing alright. She was a little shaken up because an aggressive drunk man tried to get into house in the early morning yesterday. But my companion and Brother S. and I all went over and gave her a blessing of comfort. She said she could feel the spirit. : ) She's slowly progressing right now ....

Alright, I'm back on. Sorry about that -- the computer kicked me off.

So as I was telling you about Nikki , she's definitely doing a lot better now that she had a blessing and I think her son is doing pretty well, too. Right now her baptismal date is still Oct. 25th, but it may have to be moved to a later date if she wants to wait for the progression of her husband. Her husband can only meet with the missionaries once a week right now and he wants to meet with them more, but for some reason the Elders can only meet with him on Sundays. Well, somehow we are going to get in contact with South Korea and let the Elders know the situation here. : ) But we are still teaching her all the lessons and principals. She didn't come to church Sunday, because she was up all night with the attempted break-in incident, but next week she should be coming. :)

I'm looking forward to the pictures and hope I am not too scared of the house color. So what else is going on there? So did you like the pictures?? Let me tell you guys about a really cool experience on Sunday: we went on an exchange with Kholton (reece's age) and at first our appointments fell through. So we started tracting in some apartments and we talked to some other kids Reece's age (Michael and Christina) who said they would hear our message. We taught them and then taught their friends (Hector and Diamond) back to back. We taught them on a grassy hillside overlooking a lake (very beautiful) and they listened intently. Kholton got to participate a lot in the lesson and did a great job. : ) We have return appointments and from that we got 4 new investigators! Wow! Heavenly Father really blesses us!!

Dad: I love you dad. I pray for you every night and morning. I pray for the family as well. I loved General Conference and really got a lot out of it that I felt was directed straight to me as well. I love you and hope to hear from you soon.

Well, I love you all and will send you pics of the baptism in the mail today! : ) Talk to you soon.

Love, Elder Miller

4-page Letter 3 P-days in the making!

Dear Family,

I love missionary work! What a great way to start off a letter, huh? : ) How is everyone? I hope you are all enjoying the "fall" season as mom put it in her last article. By the way, loved your last article, Mom! It was neat to hear about all of the fall things going on in Visalia. So has anyone put up Halloween decorations, yet? I’ve seen them in the stores now so it must be about that time. Last Halloween I was at a BYU-Idaho dance with my friends dressed up like a dead pirate. I can’t believe that was a year ago! What are your plans for the fall season and for Halloween? Any cool corn mazes, football games or haunted houses? That’s cool that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is already playing. Starts on the same day as Conference, huh?

For Halloween this year I think I’m going to dress up like a missionary! It’s very new and original for me. : ) I’ll probably be at the Ward Halloween party and then visit some members in their houses. I suppose our night would be a little different if we tried trick-or-treating. I bet a lot of people would answer the door when we knocked! (Mainly because they would think we were trick-or-treating). Boy, would they be in for a treat when we decline their candy and offer them Eternal Salvation! But in all seriousness we will most likely be at the Ward party. : ) (We sure would be good at trick-or-treating, though. We knock that many doors every day!)

Well, let me tell you about what is going on here and then I will tell you of some experiences I have had lately. Right now I am just sitting on the couch. It’s about 5:00 p.m. so I have an hour before my P-day [Preparation Day] ends and we go to FHE [Family Home Evening] at the S’s home. (I will tell you more about them later, because I know I mentioned them in my e-mail).

I’m doing great! I’m more excited for missionary work than ever (I always say that), but it’s true! I enjoy going out every morning into the streets and talking to everyone who will talk to us. And many of the experiences I will share with you in this letter will give you an idea of why I’m so excited. First let me tell you about my weekly schedule.

Everyday we get up at 6:25 as usual, go work out at the apartments’ gym (every morning except Sunday) and then eat breakfast and shower. We are ready by 8:00 a.m. sharp so we can start our personal study. 9:00 a.m. we have companionship study which is very effective for planning lessons for individuals and working on teaching skills and teaching in unity. At 10:00 a.m. on Monday we start our P-day and that lasts till 6:00 p.m. Our time is usually spent e-mailing, writing letters, doing laundry, taking a little nap, playing tow on two basketball, writing our weekly report to President and occasionally something cultural (Citrus Tower).

Today we played some intense basketball on an outdoor park court. Sometimes we will start wrestling on P-day and it’s usually because Elder Le Bel (6'4") is trying to get my companion (Elder Holland 6’) to wrestle. So of course I go rescue my companion and try out my wrestling moves on Elder Le Bel. Elder Carlisle mostly just cheers us on and Elder Le Bel always ends up being in the air or pinned on the ground. We just laugh and laugh because of how much fun we all have with each other. Honestly we all get along great and have so much fun.

So, Monday’s we finish off with Family Home Evening at a member’s home (ideally with an investigator at the lesson as well). Tonight we are teaching FHE at Brother and Sister S’s and our two investigators are David and Nona (Grandmother in Italian – Brother S’s mother is not a member either . . . yet!). We have a potential of 3 baptisms with the family (the son, the sister and the Grandmother! Cool, huh?)

So, that’s our typical Monday (P-day). By the way it’s now the 29th. Ha, ha. It’s a long letter and I usually only write on P-days so I had to stretch this letter out over the two P-days : ) so back to my schedule . . .

On Tuesday through Saturday we are out of the apartment at 10:00 a.m. to go proselyting in different neighborhoods. We usually come back to eat lunch at 12:00 and then go back out walking or biking to do street contacting or go to different appointments. This week we have a lot of cool appointments coming up . . .

Carlos (he works and lives here at the apartments and was cleaning our air conditioner and fixing our toilets. I told him that to thank him for his service I wanted to give him a gift. I gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish and A Bible in English and a restoration pamphlet. He was very grateful for all of them and said he has been looking for some textbooks and things for his two kids to help them learn about Christ. We have a return appointment for Sunday and I promised him more textbooks (pamphlets) for his kids : ) . . .

Then there is Nikki. She called the Church on Sunday while we were in with the Priest Quorum in Bishop W’s office and said she wanted to know more. She came to the church at 5:00 p.m. later that day and talked to Brother D who was at the church with some other members and she told him she had felt the spirit when talking to Brother W. (Young Men’s President) on the phone earlier that day. She has seen a lot of anti-literature, but wants to ask Elder Holland and I her question so she can find out directly from source. Wow! We have an appointment with her on Wednesday.

Tonight we have an appointment with a less active member and her non-member husband. There is also Marvin, an old, Christian musician guy we talked to at a gas station. He is very Christ-oriented so he is a potential. Anyway, that is just some of the people we are talking to. : )

Okay, so on Tuesday through Thursday we have double exchanges with the Elders and High Priest Group and we go appointments, visit members, less-actives and recent converts, and visit potential investigators. We have dinner appointments almost every night at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. and we are definitely getting fed! : ) The members are good to us and make us eat a lot, but we work it off in the mornings. So don’t worry, I’m only getting stronger, not fatter. We eat very healthy food compared to other missionaries. We definitely eat our fruits and vegetables and whole grains and meat. Guess what I just made for lunch?? A fried egg sandwich! : ) It’s the first time I’ve had one in a long time.

I miss you guys. I will admit that it’s definitely difficult to be away from you for so long, but it’s worth it for "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." (D&C 18:10)

So guess what? My first transfer period ends on Tuesday. How crazy is that? Six weeks in the field just went by so fast! On Monday I will have been out on my mission for two months. Wow!

Hey, guess what? Grandma and Grandpa both wrote me and they sent very kind letters. I loved hearing from them both.

So even though transfers are coming up I will most likely be here for a long time. Which is good by me. : ) I love it here and President doesn’t like to move missionaries a lot.

Well, back to my week . . . Tuesday through Saturday is pretty much the same. Except on Friday we have breakfast with our Ward Mission Leader, Bro. S. He is such a character. I love it! : ) He is a short, German man from Brooklyn, New York. He is very animated. Has an accent and "talks with his hands" as he says. He is a wonderful Ward Mission Leader.

Saturday and Sunday we do a lot of tracting, because that’s when people are actually home. Sunday is our regular meeting (including early morning Ward missionary correlation and PEC [Priesthood Executive Committee] ). We switch it up every Sunday and go to different classes. So we can see all the members of the ward. I love our ward!

This letter is long, so I’m going to end it, but I just want to share with you an amazing experience I have had on the first and second of this month (yesterday and Wednesday). [October now -- the 3rd P-day!] We now have two baptismal dates. David S’s is the first one, and you already know about him. And Nikki Y’s is our new baptismal candidate. Her baptism date is on October 25. I told you earlier about the young lady who called the church during the third hour last Sunday. Well, that’s Nikki Y. And guess what? My companion was kind enough to offer me the experience of going over there with an exchange (like Dad does with Visalia’s missionaries). Just from talking to her on the phone my companion and I knew that she was interested and pretty positive as well. But I got to go over there on Wednesday the first with Bro. D. Nikki is 23 (so is Bro. D.) and she has now become good friends with some ward members (including Brother and Sister D.). On Wednesday we taught her the first lesson and answered all her questions. Basically she "found Christ" for the first time four years ago and she and her husband have a little 10-month-old boy. Her husband is in the Air Force, stationed in South Korea right now. But he wants to do the same as Nikki in learning more. Get this, Nikki lives in our apartment complex! On Thursday Brother D. and I answered more questions, taught from her assigned readings (3 Nephi 11) and committed her to baptism. On Saturday and Sunday she came to the 12:00 sessions of Conference with us. We have a new investigator with a baptismal date – yeah!

We also had a really good turn-out with the fireside I told you about. I am sending you the program. This is the one where the other Elders, the K. brothers and I sang "Come Follow Me," accompanied by Sister T. The talks were great and there were a bunch of non-members there. In the words of our Ward Mission Leader, Bro. S., "You could cut the spirit with a knife it was so strong." What a great missionary opportunity for those who came.

By the way Brother S’s sister and mother are going to take the lessons now. Oh, and Elder Le Bel is being transferred to another area. And we are getting a new Elder in here fresh from the MTC. I’m not the "greenie" any more!

. . . everyone say, "Hi!" to Roxy and Truman for me!

I love you all,
Love,
Elder Miller

Sixth Ward Missionary Board

I'd forgotten I had taken this picture to show Ryan after the last of his buddies left. Elder Ryan is on the bottom left and Andy (now famous for singing in the MTC choir) is next to him! Above Andy is Justin -- and that completes "the three amigos"! All you have to do is write and ask and I'll tell you where they're headed and who and how great all the other missionaries are, too!
~Roni (Elder Ryan's Mom)

Wow! From Elder Miller Oct. 6, 2008

Hello family!

All I can say is WOW. Sounds like a lot of things have happened in one week for you (and me, too)!

So you got a new dog? I didn't see that one coming! Ha, ha, but I'm glad you like him. Definitely send lots of pictures of all these new and exciting things especially the new addition to our family. : ) I'm surprised about Jack, please tell him to be nice to Roxy. : )

Reece, awesome job on asking this girl to the harvest dance! That was a great idea and I bet she feels very appreciated and lucky to be going with you to the dance! Send me pictures of it, OK? : ) And be safe if you’re driving that night (there are always crazy or drunk drivers on dance nights). So how is Jack? Have you put up any signs to tell people that he was found? I hope you guys get to keep him, I just wonder if there is another owner in the picture? So what is your junior year like? Everything you hoped it would be? I remember pre calc. It was pretty tough. Are you taking it from Mr. Robb? I've been teaching seminary lately and every time I think of you getting up early for your seminary class. I’m REALLY proud of you for going so faithfully. I know a lot of kids don't go like they should but I promise you the blessings of going. Well, send me pics of your amazing night, k? : )

Remi, so what do you think of the new dog, buddy? How is school going for you in Mrs. Cannon’s class? I love you, buddy and I will talk to you soon. : )

MOM, so you got the job? Yeah!! I am so happy for you!. I know your hard work will pay off. : ) I thought of you during conference too! I didn't see Andy, but that’s all right, I heard his voice... mixed in with about 300 others : ) Ha, ha. There are so many new things going on there! The job, the dog, the dance, the house... wow! I look forward to those pics!!! : )

By the way guys, I sent your package! FINALLY! It took me forever but it should be there in three days (first class from the post office this morning). : )) I put all kinds of stuff in there for you guys, including 90 pictures!! (on CD) : ), so I hope you enjoy it!

OK, so here is my big news that you will hear about twice (once in the letter in that package) and once now...

WE HAVE A NEW BAPTISMAL DATE!!

So now we have two, David S. . . . and Nikki Y. Nikki called us at the church to set up a time with us. She has a 10-month-old baby boy and her husband is in the Air Force. She heard the lessons and she is getting baptized on the 25th!!

Well, I love you and I miss you. Take care stay strong!!

Ryan

Hello again. I had to send that last email really fast because the library computer was kicking me off. I still have 15 mins., though so I wanted to tell you more about my week. I’m really excited for you to get my package on Thurs. or Fri., because I wrote a lot about my time so far as a missionary and put a lot of memorabilia in the package that I want you to save so when I get home I can have all these memories to look at. : )

OK, so that was funny. I just talked to Nikki Y., she is here at the library. : ) So yeah, she is really coming along and gaining a testimony! She has had a lot of questions and is really searching this out. She’s "golden" as they say. I’m really excited for her. Her husband is going to meet with the missionaries in South Korea where he is stationed and he wants to learn too. The Lord really blesses me guys!

Well, conference was amazing and this week has been busy, but good. My first transfer period ended today and I am not being transferred for a while (luckily), because I love it here and there is so much work to do! Elder Le Bel is the only one being transferred and we are getting a new greenie in the apartment. Well, I’m excited.

Well, I gtg but I love you!!

Love, Elder Miller