Good day, mate! October 5, 2009

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your emails. I could tell you each put a lot of thought into them so I am going to email you each separately to answer all your questions.

Reece, I really, really enjoyed conference, too! We watched it at our chapel in Daytona on the big screen with a projector along with some friends in the ward and some investigators. I am glad to hear that you are working hard. Something that came to mind as I read about your school work, Mimi's work, and working on the house was you are gaining experience, confidence, and knowledge that will help you in whatever you choose to do with your life after you mission. If you continue in this way you will be well prepared for the future! That's awesome. :) I am glad you enjoyed watching those videos. I completely forgot they were on there, ha ha. :) We move into our new apartment on the 14th (next Wednesday) and recently we have been hunting down some furniture to put in it since we don't really have any due to our small existing apartment. I am definitely excited because it will be a much better location, a lot nicer, and a lot more room! Here is our apartment's website from their business card they gave us: www.integrashores.com/. This way you can see what it looks like. our floor plan is the Cape Side and it over looks the two lakes and the pool (which we can't use :). Daytona is a cool place and a fun place to visit but I could never see myself raising a family here. But I love it for right now because I am here to share the gospel with everyone who lives here. I am so excited to hear how nice the house is looking. I hope to see some pictures of the finished product when it's done. I love you Reece and hope you have a fun-filled and hardworking October. :)

Remi, Daytona beach is going really well. I love teaching the people here and I know that I am doing God's work. It actually hasn't rained at all lately. Must be one of the few places in the world that it's not because it sounds like the rest of the world is being flooded! (Samoa, Georgia, Texas, Indonesia, etc.) We are definitely in the last days but I am so grateful to have living Prophets of God on the earth today and for the guidance and counsel we just received this weekend in regards to our current struggles. We have taught a lot of people lately, most of them from tracting. We taught over 30 lessons this past week. Our last baptism wast Eddie and Kathy a couple of weekends ago, but we have more coming in October and I will tell you more about them next week. Right now Mike P. (a media referral) has a baptismal date for October but he still needs to come to church. He was at Eddie and Kathy's baptism and a church tour (took him around our meeting house and described what goes on during the 3 hours of church) so that was good. I love you Remi and hope that you have a great week!

Dad, I absolutely loved general conference, too! I was also very impressed with Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk because of his powerful witness that the Book of Mormon is true. I especially enjoyed it as he is one of the Apostles that I have personally met and spoken to. And the whole world does have the opportunity to hear it even if they don't take it. So they at least have a chance to receive the message through satellite, television, radio, the internet, magazines, and so forth. My favorite talk from the priesthood session was Elder Ballard's talk about fathers and sons. I took lots of notes and plan on implementing what he said both now and especially after my mission. During his talk I thought about the Priesthood sessions we have been to together and going out afterward to get ice cream and Baskin Robin's. I miss sitting next to you at those but I will have the opportunity again sooner that it feels. I love you Dad. You're right before my mission I was a little rambunctious and although I still plan on having fun (snowboarding, diving, etc.) I will be much more careful. :) I am currently having the time of my life and the most fun I have ever had sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone I see. Time sure does fly but I will do my best to make the most of it in every situation. I want to please Heavenly Father with my work here and be able to hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Thank you for all you advice and support! I love you.

Mom, don't worry, no one was hurt (including me) in the making of those videos. :) [We just found a video of Ryan letting his BYU-I friends push him down the stairs in a clothes basket on a skate board! At least he was wearing a helmet.] And like I told Dad I will definitely be more careful after my mission (and during of course). I loved general conference, too. I enjoyed hearing about your first experiences in the church. That's something that I haven't asked you and Dad very much but something that I have come to appreciate very much while being on my mission. I share yours and Dad's conversion experiences all the time with investigators and it means a lot them and especially me! Thank you for sending that missionaries story. [A first hand account of the tsunami from a missionary in Samoa.] It is amazing to hear the things that missionaries experience in other parts of the world. I heard from Andy and Justin recently and they both are really blossoming and enjoying their missions, too! It sounds like there has been a lot of progress made on the house and a lot more to go. But I definitely know that Heavenly Father will help you finish the house and that everything will work out right. I will continue to keep you in my prayers (specifically with working on the house.) It was also great to hear about your novel coming along. I am glad you find so much enjoyment in that and I look forward to reading your novel next summer. I love you, Mom. Thank you for all you do.

Well, in other news today was zone p-day again and this time we actually got to go to the beach because we didn't get rained out. It was a lot of fun and I got some great pictures! I will send a picture CD from my camera soon with a LOT of pictures that I hope you will enjoy. Also this Friday we are having a mission conference with Spencer J. Condie of the seventy. I really look forward to the knowledge and insight I will gain from this experience. Afterward there is going to be an awesome investigator fireside with him so I look forward to that with anticipation for our investigators as well.

Well, I love you all and wish you a great second week of October! Stay strong!

Love,

Elder Miller

Thank you for the update, Mom. :) [A long-time friend from California just got a mission call to California!]

By the way, Dad, do you have any advice for seeking member referrals?
Love,
Elder Miller

Hello from the East Coast! September 28, 2009

It was great hearing from all of you again!
Remi, That is amazing that you are such a good swimmer now. You'll be more experienced than me when I finish my mission because I won't have set foot in a pool for two years. :) You'll have to teach me how to swim! I hope you get feeling better soon!
Reece, Sounds like you had an awesome time at BOTH homecomings and I'm glad to hear that you have made new friends. Will you send me pictures of you at your homecoming? I'd love to see how that went for you. You mentioned Makenda won homecoming for Redwood? I thought she went to Golden West? Either way that's pretty cool. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers, it means a lot to me, bro. :)
Dad, Eddie and Kathy are progressing well and I have really seen a change in their lives which makes me very happy for them. I will tell everyone about them in a minute. I will definitely do my best to be the zone leader Heavenly Father would have me be. Good luck installing pet doors. Will Truman or Roxy be able to fit through the new doors? :)
Mom, Sounds like the house is really coming along! Congratulations are deserved to all of you! I'm going to write Grandpa a letter today and keep him in my prayers. Please let Sister H. know I said thanks for the letter. :)
Well, my week went really well! I enjoyed Eddie's and Kathy's baptismal service a lot! I will send you pictures asap. Kathy asked me to baptize her and Eddie asked Elder Palmer who came up for the baptism. We had an investigator there watching the service named Mike and afterward he said, "When can I do that?" That made us excited for him and we recently set a baptismal date with him for October. Brother B. confirmed the Eddie and Kathy in sacrament meeting and Eddie picked me to give him the Aaronic Priesthood. He now has the authority to baptize his 4 year old son Eddie when he turns 8!
Our zone is doing well and we had 6 confirmations in September. We plan on more in October. Right now we have 7 dates set with many more to follow. I am excited for this week and the opportunities for sharing the gospel that lie ahead. I appreciate your prayers (and the package :) and I will keep you in mine, too. Stay strong and always remember that you are my favorite family ever!
Love,
Elder Miller

Hello to my Family September 21, 2009

Hello Mom, Dad, Reece, and Remi!

It sounds like things are you going well for you in Lakeland. It's good to hear about the house coming a long! And I am glad to hear about the missionary fireside! I hope that having "two wards" means more letters. :)

Well, let me tell you about my week before I answer your questions. This week. Elder Hansen and I set 5 new baptismal dates with our investigators, all the dates for October. Eddie and Kathy successfully had their wedding and the whole experience went really well! The decorations were beautiful (done by us and some of the sisters in the ward at the chapel) and I had fun making them a wedding gift (I framed a copy of "The Family a Proclamation to the World" in Spanish.) The whole wedding (the first one I have ever been to) and reception were awesome and their were a lot of non-members there from their family, so it was a great missionary opportunity. Eddie and Kathy and her mom came to Stake Conference on Sunday and really enjoyed that as well. They are still getting baptized on Saturday and I will let you know how that goes.

This week the other elders and I went "apartment shopping" and picked out a really nice yet inexpensive apartment in a brand new complex. If the economy was doing a little better they probably would be a lot more expensive, but we got a great deal. Going from our current living situation to the new apartment will be like night and day. I took a panoramic picture of our current apartment (with my camera that still works great) so you can compare the two.

Today we were going to have a zone P-day at the beach, but it got rained out so we had to go to the church instead and watch movies and play basketball.

To answer your questions: Reece- Yes, I did get an email from Tracy, it's sad that so many people fall into that same category today of getting pregnant before marriage. We teach lots of people in that same situation. It makes me glad to hear that you feel I am an "awesome missionary." :) Thank you. And I know that you will be an awesome missionary, too! Time is definitely flying by and it is only getting faster. I love you and hope that you have a great week. :)

Remi- I hope you enjoyed your homemade cookies! I know that as you work hard you can definitely reach your goals and sell all those chocolates and wrapping paper. This week was stake conference, so we didn't have sacrament, but it went very well! Eddie and Kathy loved it! Bishop P. even let them borrow his vehicle so that they could come since theirs was having troubles. I love you and hope you have a great week!

Dad- Thank you for your advice, it is always helpful. We are still doing our best to help our zone be unified in challenging and testifying. I'll tell my comp you said hi. I love you and wish you the best with the house!

Mom- It was nice to hear about the fireside, thank you for sharing that. :) I haven't heard from either ward yet but hopefully I will hear from them soon. :) I am not sure of any recent news with Kim but she has a blog, did her mom give the website to you? I love you and hope you have and awesome week and do great with the house!

Thank you for your emails. I hope you have an awesome week and I hope to hear from you again soon!

Love,

Elder Miller

Hi from Daytona Sept 14, 2009

Hi Family,

Thank you all for you kind email! I never get tired of hearing how you are all doing and love to hear how everything is progressing for you in Lakeland. I'm glad to hear that the house is coming along and I have been praying for you to receive divine help in accomplishing that great task. You mentioned hard wood floors. Do you mean laminate or actual hard wood? I was told that hard wood flooring is difficult to maintain here in Florida due to the humidity warping the wood. All this work you are doing on the new house reminds me of remodeling our old house together. Good times. :) We had a lot of memories in that home but I am sure we will make many in our new home as well. When is your estimated move in date? [October 17]

My week went really well. I finished a package that I made for you last week and it goes in the mail today so it should arrive there soon. It has pictures, a letter, and lots of things from my stay here in Daytona so far. Mom, Please be careful which pictures you choose to put on the internet considering that these pictures are from my companion's camera and I look silly in many of them. :) Thanks. And thank you for sending the letters and stuff. Both are very much appreciated and I hope to get them this week. :)

My new companion is the Elder Hansen you were asking about, Mom, and he is a very good missionary! He is tall and skinny, has red hair, is from Iowa, and is a musician as well. I find it easy to get along with him especially since he is a musician, too. (Reece, Thank you for your complement about my sax playing. :) To answer your question, I am definitely still going into music after my mission because I love it so much and still haven't reached my goal of where I want to be musically yet. :) Elder Hansen has inspired me to challenge everyone for baptism as you will find out more about in my package letter.

Remi, we actually have taught a lot of new people lately. In fact, we set a new baptismal date this week with Jessica, but her husband is not interested as of yet. Her date is for October, 10th. Our zone focus for the transfer is Challenging and Testifying. Our missionaries are struggling to challenge people for baptism each day.

Dad, what are some things you did as a zone leader to help your missionaries challenge their investigators for baptism and set dates? By the way, if you really want to get in touch with Elder Bobo again try face book or other internet sites like it. I hear about people finding long lost friends on face book all the time so it's worth a shot. :) Working out is going well. We just bought a lot of healthy food and protein at Sam's club today so we can continue our work out routine. Tell Mike R. that I said hi and congratulations on his mission call! That's awesome you get to go to his endowment session. Say hello to everyone for me. :)

I really enjoy being a missionary! Every day this week I have felt the Lord lead us to his chosen and elect children and it brings me so much joy to invite them to be baptized and enter into that promise with Heavenly Father. Eddie and Kathy's marriage is this weekend. Please keep them in your prayers as they get closer and closer to that special day, as I know the adversary will try to stop them but will not succeed. I love you all. Thank you for your help and support. Stay strong!

Love,

Elder Miller

Greetings from Daytona Beach September 7, 2009

My Family,

Thank you for your encouraging email and your weekly update on your life in Lakeland. I always look forward to hearing from you each week. Mom and Remi, I apologize for not replying yet to the letters you sent me a couple weeks ago. I will definitely reply to the letters you send me, sometimes it just takes a little longer than I would like due to a busy week, but I will do my best to write you letters soon. I also want to send you some picture CD’s that I plan on making today so hopefully I can get those sent to you this week.

Dad, you always know how to give the best advice. You are very spiritually in tune and have that extra fatherly sense. I appreciate your comments, because I do feel myself sometimes slipping into that cruise mode and I do my very best not to because I want to continually improve at being a missionary. The only way to do that is to move forward, because if I am not moving forward I am moving backward. I am excited for the new transfer that starts today because I will be receiving a new companion and a new calling (senior Zone Leader). This will help me to not slide into a rut but to press forward with steadfast faith in Christ. My new companion’s name is Elder Hansen. That’s about all I know about him for now but he will arrive in the area tomorrow morning. Elder Palmer is going to Goldenrod (in Orlando area) to serve as a district leader in what will probably be his last area (he has 4 ½ months left). Elder Maughan is leaving to Hunter’s creek zone (where I came from to Daytona) and Elder Bernhisel is getting a Trainee. There are many exciting changes taking place in the mission! Because our mission is still growing and there is a lot of missionary work to be done in this part of the Lord’s vineyard, our mission is growing with 24 extra, missionaries in the next couple of transfers (19 missionaries came in today from the MTC to replace our 10 that were leaving, and a similar pattern will follow for the upcoming transfers.) Our mission is growing and there is work to be done!

Reece, it’s good to hear about all the progress our family is making on the house! I would love to have you join me at college for a semester before your mission! We would have a lot of fun together, I’m sure. :) I’m sorry your school feels like a prison, but that is good that you will be able to focus on your academics. Did you say that you were doing the duel enrollment this semester? It sounds like a great program to finish off high school with because when you do the program for a year you are well on your way to earning your Associate’s Degree. By the way what was the name of your school again? Was it Lakeland High? And what is your mascot? To answer your question we do have some new investigators and one of them went tracting with us this week (his name is Nick). Ironically he was smoking while we were out tracting, but we did speak to him about our program to help him quit. I am really enjoying the work here and I hope to be sending you the picture CD’s this week.

Remi, I am still working out every day but we haven’t pushed the car lately. I did get a little behind a week ago due to a cold, but I am steadily catching up again. What was the name of your school again? I hope everything is going well for you in school and that you are learning a lot. My companion is doing well but like I mentioned to Dad he will be leaving tonight for his new area. We actually don’t e-mail from the Library because the Library doesn’t allow us to (something about being out of state residents) and even though I can prove that I am from Florida, my companion can’t so we email at Grandpa A’s business office at his home.

Eddie and Kathy’s marriage is on the 19th and their baptism is on the 26th! They are so excited and we helped them make some wedding plans on Sunday with Kathy and Sister B. from our ward. The ward is very willing to help out with everything which makes it a lot better for Eddie and Kathy. This way they will have fellowship even after the missionaries who worked with them are long gone.

Mom, your favorite Elder is doing great, thank you! Thank you for sending my stuff, it will really help me out. It was funny to hear about Reece playing in the rain and bothering the cows. I can’t say I’ve bothered Florida livestock yet, but we “play” in the rain all the time when we’re tracting and a storm comes. :) The L’s are doing great and are still preparing towards marriage, baptism and confirmation. I can’t wait till they make that step in their lives! :) Overall I had a great week, but I look forward to the changes being made and the new transfer in which will come much more success. As a mission we baptized 75 people in the month of August and we plan on staying consistent with bringing God’s children back into his fold. I hope the house continues coming along and I wish you the best in your writing and freelance work.

I love you all and wish and great September and an awesome week! Please tell Grandma and Grandpa that I said hi!! Stay strong and keep the faith.

Love,

Elder Miller