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