thankyou, thankYOU, THANKYOU! June 1, 2009

Thank you my family for your kindness!

I really enjoyed opening the package this morning and Elder Nelson took lots of pictures of the whole thing. I will send them to you as soon as you move to the new address. : ) Your gifts were very thoughtful and kind and I've already listened to one of the CD's on the way here, awesome! Thank you Reece, Remi, Mom, and Dad for the joy you brought me on my birthday!

Reece, that picture you sent of me and you at the Father and Son's campout was great. I haven't seen those two boys togther in a long time! I really enjoyed your card and gift, they were awesome! And I will definitely sport my new So-Cal T-shirt on P-days! Thank you!

Remi, that CD you got me is a lot of fun! Thank you for thinking of me ! I still need to reply to your letter and I will definitely send that to you when you arrive here in Florida. : ) I love you bro!

I will send the other part of the letter in a sec...

Sorry about the wait I had to switch computers and then I started talking to this salesperson. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and he had read it cover to cover. He was quite the character, called himself "King James." I don't know if we could ever teach him a lesson, because he doesn't let you get very many words in, but we will try to set one up with him...

Thank you so much Mom, for all the thoughtful gifts you included in the package. I am going to have fun celebrating and decorating and making the cake today! I love you!!

Thank you Dad, again, for your wonderful card. And although you weren't in California to help create the package I know how much love was sent from you along with the whole family in that gift. So thank you!! I love you!

This weekend was awesome because we had two baptisms! The baptisms were for Djuna K. (9) (you've communicated with her mom) and for Trinidad R. (15) from the R. family. They were really special and Elder Nelson was asked to baptize Djuna and I was asked to baptize Trinidad. There were many non-members there I spoke with each of them after the baptism and they all said that they had really felt the spirit. After the baptisms we went with the K. family to Friendly's restaurant and had a birthday celebration (Lalahni's and my birthdays)/overcoming trials celebration/ Baptism celebration/Duane's new job celebration/etc... There was a lot to celebrate! We will have some more baptisms coming up soon in June.

I can't believe that tomorrow I will no longer be a teen anymore! Reece, it sounds like you had an awesome trip to the beach. Congrats on earning your Eagle Scout and having your court of honor tomorrow! I will be there with you in spirit and in heart in the "Eagle's nest" supporting you and I am so proud of you for accomplishing your goal! Thank you for your words in your card to me. It really means a lot to me to know that you look up to me and love me. I hope all goes well tomorrow and just know that I am thinking of you. Tell me all about how it goes, ok? I love you!

Well in president's e-mail to me it sounded as if I will be leaving Kissimmee... no one knows for sure though until transfer day (6-16-09), though, but either way I will be happy serving the Lord where he needs me. The exact words in his weekly email were: Elder Miller: You have done a magnificent job in Kissimmee! To me it sounds like I could be going elsewhere in the mission next transfer. [HOW did he get that from that?] It may also have something to do with our conversation about you guys moving here, he probably doesn't want me too close to where you are (not that it would effect me or anything) just that he wants to help keep his missionaries focused. Of course he also said that our stake president and bishop said that they can't take Elder Nelson and I away so we'll see. : )

This past Friday I had an exchange with Elder Judd in Saint Cloud and we had a great learning experience together. In other words we got dropped off for an appointment who wasn't there, tracted for an hour, and then walked the 3+ miles to the next teaching appointment in the rain which started coming down in sheets when we began our long journey to the next appointment. To answer your question mom when the rain is like that my little umbrella and my Mr. Mac jacket don't keep any water out. : ) We just laughed and laughed the harder it rained. It was very comical: two soaking wet missionaries walking along side the road in the mud in white shirts and ties. When we arrived for appointment I laughed some more because they had a really nice house and here we were standing on their front porch dripping wet and muddy. We just stood on towels and sat on metal fold out chairs so that we wouldn't get their nice house ruined.

Well, hurricane season actually starts today so I wonder what other surprises are in store for me. : ) You don't have to worry about me though because: 1. Heavenly Father will protect me, 2. we have now been red cross trained and can volunteer at shelters for emergencies, and 3. You will have to worry about yourselves in an emergency because you now live next door. : )

My 10 month mark is on saturday, crazy huh? Time flies when your serving the Lord!

The other day the R. kids who were recently baptized went to the temple to do baptisms. What a neat experience; to see recent converts experiencing the blessings of the restored gospel! They kept telling us how beautiful it all was and how much they enjoyed it. It's the things like that make all the door slams worth it! Something else that is really crazy is Djuna, the first baptism on Saturday was the 10th baptism for me on my mission so far. Cool huh? I have been really blessed to see so many baptisms on my mission, with many more on the way! Two weeks ago we tracted into a nice older man named Felix from the Dominican Republic and we invited him to church. We invite a lot of people to church but Felix actually walked over with us from our apartments to church! It was great having a new face in Sacrament meeting. Our goal for baptisms in June is 6. We had 5 in may and Elder Nelson and I are really working hard to reach our goals and to continue progressing.

Well, I better get going but I want each of you to know how much I love you! Thank you for being so kind to me on my birthday! Stay strong and I will continue to pray for your move to go smoothly and safely.

Love,

Elder Miller