Hello from KISSIMMEE! February 17, 2009

Hi family!

I'm glad you got my Valentine's card, Mom! And I hope that everyone got their letters, too! Sorry I couldn't e-mail yesterday (it was a national holiday). But I am at a new library now so this is different. It's a lot bigger.

Wow, this week has flown by, and yet it also seemed like a month has gone by instead of a week. So many new things!! Kissimmee is a lot bigger and more city-like than Minneola. There is a large downtown area with lots of contacting opportunities and there are a lot more missionaries serving here because there are more people. : )

Monday (two Mondays ago) I had a going away dinner at the Sch's [ward mission leader]. He made me smoked ribs and it was good! We also said good-bye to a lot of families, and all my favorite people from the ward (of course the S's included). Brother S even called Mom while I was there to ask about Dad being here in Florida. I guess he wanted to have him over for dinner or something. He is so funny and very generous. I hope you guys stay in touch with them; they are always loved by the missionaries. : )

Overall, it was hard to say good-bye to everyone, but I am happy to take the next step on my mission and serve here in Kissimmee; I know it's where the Lord wants me to be. And plus I will always remember my first area and the amazing people who live there. (over 50 people wrote in my book so I will have some great memories in that book over the years to look at).

Tuesday Brother S. brought me here to Kissimmee (it was about a 40-minute drive). He also took me out to breakfast. What a nice guy! On Tuesday I unpacked and then I met my first family in the ward for a dinner appointment (the A family). They were really nice and had us over for pizza. One of them is a recent convert. Then bother A. took us to the church where I met Bishop T. and some of the other ward members. We taught the first lesson (message of the restoration) to the young men for a duty to god requirement. It was our first time teaching together but it went really well (even with a bunch of teenagers. : )

On Wednesday we taught a recent convert (Bro. G) and talked to him about the blessings that come from enduring our trials and read with him Ether 6. He recently broke his foot and since he's older he has a hard time getting around.

We've done a ton of biking in the last week and it's a lot of fun that way! Elder Urry broke his bike (the entire crank shaft fell off), but luckily we have the car this week so we can take it to get fixed for next week.

We have three new investigators: Harvey, Cory, and Larry. Larry and Corry are brand new as of this week and we taught them each the first lesson. (Larry is the blind man that I wrote dad about in my letter. He's the one Dad's copy of the Book of Mormon went to and we met with him again last night and had a really good discussion about the first vision with him.) Cory is a young man my age who just moved into our apartment complex. He is very open to hearing our message although he is of a Catholic background, and last night we taught him the message of the restoration as well. Remington, I gave Cory your copy of the Book of Mormon and told him how it was very special to me because on the inside cover my little brother had written his testimony. He said he would read 3 nephi 11 and pray about it and we're meeting again with him on Sunday. Good missionary work, Remi! And Mom, your book is the next to go. Reece your book is still with Anna K., the nine-year-old in Minneola and I just talked to Elder Bradford this morning and they are still doing well. Hopefully I'll get to go to their baptism sometime in march!

I met my zone this week and it's a lot bigger than my last! There are some awesome missionaries in this zone! We will accomplish a lot with the Lord's help and guidance. We also had a zone P-day together yesterday and I watched "The RM" (the [LDS] movie). My new companion is awesome! His name is Elder Urry and he is from Lehi, Utah. He his 6' 1'' and enjoys long boarding and the snow. He and I are having good missionary experiences together and are accomplishing a lot with the ward. We had a ward council meeting on Sunday and talked about our new ward mission plan. I am excited to be an instrument in God's hands in bringing people into the waters of baptism.

My first Sunday went really well and I met a lot of the ward members. I also taught gospel principles class on the priesthood because I filled in for the regular teacher who wasn't going to be there. It went really well and there was a lot of class participation. On Saturday we went to the baptism of our ward mission leaders son who is 8-years-old and we even got to help out with the confirmation!

On Saturday night we went contacting on main street and the first person we talked to was really positive. His name was Eric or "Big E" and he was a nice fellow who was helping out with a homeless shelter here in downtown Kissimmee. We of course volunteered to help out and they used us that very night! The organization is called "Life in the Son" and we helped make dinner for them and then participated in a spiritual message given to them by Mike, a pastor from the organization. It was on Christ-like love (for Valentine's Day) and there were about 30 homeless people there including a few couples for Valentines Day. We taught two lessons on the side as well while dinner was being prepared and cleared up a lady's concerns about the church. She said she would go one Sunday and we gave her the info about the church location so she could come. Overall it was an awesome random opportunity for service that the Lord provided us with!

On Sunday we had dinner with the Wakefield family and really enjoyed spending time with the whole family, including the daughter-in-law who is a recent convert. Last night we had two awesome lessons one with Cory and one with Larry and we even recorded the lesson with Cory on Elder Urry's device so that we could have it later to analyze our teaching. I might even be able to send you a copy of it so you could hear one of our missionary discussions. : )

Well, that was my week and I love you guys a lot! Dad good luck!! Reece, nice work on your new job(s)! Remi, I'll keep you posted on your Book of Mormon that went to Cory. Mom, thank you for your kind comments and I wish you luck with your jobs! How's the novel coming? I hope everything is going well for you guys and I hope you got my second envelope with the other letters in it. : )

I love you! Stay strong!

Elder Miller