Changes, changes, changes ; ) 16 March 2009

Hey family,

It sounds like lots of things are changing there, wow! And Dad's already here working, huh? Well, I am glad he got started and I know this is a great opportunity for him.

Sounds like the house is looking better and better, and ironically your leaving it just after it gets all fixed up. : )

To answer your questions... yep, I really did sit on a live, moving, 8-foot alligator. It was a lot of fun! And no, my mission president hasn't seen that picture yet. : ) Remi, it feels hard on top but its neck on the underside is really soft and squishy. By the way, the running zig zags from an alligator is a myth! That doesn't work according to the trainers of these beasts, and I believe them because they are with them everyday! So when you guys move here you should keep that in mind as you are running from alligators. ; ) Hey, you could go visit Gatorland, too it you wanted to!

Well, my week was awesome!!!!! The Lord is really blessing us as we work hard to find people to help into the waters of baptism. This week we were blessed with 14 new investigators (a personal and maybe even a zone record), 8! investigators at church, 14 lessons with an investigator with a member present, 13 member exchanges, 10 other lessons, 7 referrals, and 7 progressing investigators!!! What a week! Having 8 people at church was amazing Elder Urry, the members, and I all had to split up to sit with that many investigators. I have never had to do that before. What a blessing! Our ward mission leader told me that it's been years since Kissimmee ward had seen this much progression in the missionary work here. Our top investigators are: Harvey (a 30 something year old Puerto Rican man whose wife is a member and we just helped him quit smoking and he comes to church every week, hopefully he will accept a baptismal date soon, please pray for him to accept a date). Nathan and his family: his wife, Jenny, and their kids. (They are a Hatian family and are very positive! The kids came to church on Sunday and loved primary! They have agreed to be baptized we just need to set a date with them. Please pray for them to accept a baptismal date as well.) Eugene (the older gentleman who bore his testimony in sacrament meeting for the first time ever being in church.) He was there again on Sunday and please pray for him to accept a date as well as meet with us regularly. The K. family Jomyriz (the mom who's a member), Duane (the father who's our investigator) and three kids, Djuna is the oldest and she is 8 but taking the lessons from us. (Please pray for Duane to be open-minded to the church). There are many others but I don't have time to write them all down but please keep them in your prayers. Thank you.

On Monday last week we had a huge group of missionaries meet at one of the local stake presidents (St. Cloud, President Clark’s house) and we had a fun activity at his huge house. We played basketball, football, and played the many musical instruments he had at his house (piano, guitar, etc. no saxophone though. : ( That night we had dinner at our stake president's home, President Pratt. and it was nice to get to know him and his family. We committed them to using the new missionary approach (the "did you know questions") on one person each that week. On Monday we also met Nathan and his family for the first time and taught the first lesson. On Tues. we met the V. family (11 strong and only the father is a member) that would be a huge baptism! We are teaching them all tomorrow! On Wednesday we met with Harvey and taught the word of wisdom and also met with Nathan and Nathan Jr. and had a powerful lesson on the priesthood authority. Wow! The member I was with (Brother N.) and I bore powerful witness of the authority that is on the earth today in Christ’s true church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On Thursday I went on an exchange with our zone leader Elder Hulon and we taught a lot of people in his area while Elder Urry and Elder Henz taught a lot of people in our area. On Friday we had two more awesome lessons with the M. family and The V. family. On Saturday we went with Larry to his 7th day Adventist church and it was held at the Celebration Hospital near Disney. They were nice people and a nice church; they were missing many important truths though. Later we had lunch with the K. family and taught them the first lesson. Sunday after a dinner with Harvey, his family, and the J. family, we went to the Hospital top give a non-member a blessing. Her name is Wanda S. and she has severe Multiple Schlorosis. In the blessing she was promised to be healed through her faith and I absolutely have the faith that she will be healed.

Last night we also saw the shuttle launch by just stepping outside our apartment. Did dad see it too?? [Yes, Scott did -- how's that for weird?] I took pictures, too.

Well, my week was awesome and we have a lot planned for this week, too! The Lord has really blessed us with so many investigators and he really has poured out a blessing from the windows of Heaven so large that we barely have room enough to receive it!

I love you all and I want to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Love, Your son and brother,

Elder Miller