Dear Family,
It was fun to hear about your Thanksgiving week! My week was extremely busy and very fun. Before I tell you about it let me answer your questions:
Mom, Elder Hansen is doing really well. He is going to miss me when I get transferred, but he is excited for Deland Zone's December because they are going to have a lot of baptisms hopefully including the 12 people we're working with right now.
Yes, I am getting transferred!! Tommorrow I will be transferred to Cocoa Beach Zone (south of Daytona Beach) in the Vierra Ward. I hear that it is an awesome ward and very functional which will be nice. :) I love the Daytona ward very much and that's why I have been grateful to serve here because I have been able to help make changes as an instrument in the Lord's hands to help this ward improve. And now I will have the opportunity to help the Vierra ward in their missionary work rise to an even higher level than they are now. In November they had 10 baptisms and we are going to have a "white Christmas" in December as well! My new companion is Elder Henz, from Brazil. he was my former zone leader when I served in Kissimmee. I have always said that I would love serving with Elder Henz and now I get to! He is really excited to be my companion, too, and I will be his last before he goes home.
Apparently the four missionaries there live in a small, shabby, one bathroom, two bedroom house, but that can be subject to change (just like it was when we changed apartments here). :) But either way I look forward to serving in this new area and will give the Lord my best effort in finding His elect and baptizing them.
Reece, that is awesome you are applying to BYU. I will pray for you and I wish you the best in that endeavour. That would be awesome to be roommates! I hope you are having a great senior year.
Remi, Elder Hansen is doing great and he will now be taking my spot as the senior zone leader for the Deland Zone. I hope you enjoy the rest of school before winter break.
Dad, That is so exciting to hear about Daniel. I pray that he will feel the spirit testify to him of the truthfulness of the Gospel. Let me know when he gets baptized. :) Thank you for your advice and I hope you have a great week.
Here is how my week went:
Monday, Brother H. (he and his young family recently moved from Colorado and he is a music professor and Bethune-Cookman, a local university) took Elder Hansen and I to his office at the university for the end part of our p-day and we had fun seeing what it would be like to become a professor of music at a college. It looked like a lot of fun! He also treated us to dinner at Dustin's BBQ and then went on an exchange afterwards to help us teach Temika and her three kids about the restoration. Brother H. is awesome (a returned missionary as well) and he really gave me some good advice on music careers. He is definitely someone I will be talking with again to seek counsel on my music education and endeavors.
Some other families we have taught are Elizabeth (she is from Spain) and her kids who are very smart for their ages, the E. family whose 3 active, non-member boys we are helping prepare for baptism, and of course Richard W. who will be baptized on December 19th. I am excited to come back for these families' baptisms!
On Sunday Brother Hen., a recent convert from Texas asked me to confer upon him the Aaronic Priesthood and I was happy to do so. Edrick G., who was baptized on Saturday and confirmed in Sacrament meeting also received the Priesthood on Sunday. Edrick's baptism went really well and it was a very spiritual experience for him! Richard W., our investigator was there and he is now looking forward even more to his own baptism in December.
My Thanksgiving weekend was a blast! Thursday we had an intense Turkey Bowl in the early morning at Reed Canal Park with about 40 people (two separate games going). The game has been a tradition for years with the Coates and the Kiel families and although the Coates are in our ward I played for the Kiel family team because they didn't have enough players at first. It was a close game and the Coates team ended up winning by one touchdown, but it was just for fun (our ref, Brother Coates, might have been a little one-sided, j/k. :) I actually had an awesome touchdown catch in the inzone that was thrown really high, but I caught it between my hand and chin.
After the turkey bowl we had 3 back-to-back Thanksgiving meals with the members, first with the Davis family (all 70 of them at the church from different parts of the country), then the Lunas, and then Grandpa A. and his friend Peter from Rochester. Gu'shaun Durham joined us for the day as well and we had a lot of fun. That evening we brought pie to a less fortunate investigator named Sashia and also visted with President Roberts family. His daughter served her mission in the Fresno mission from '05 to '07 and showed me her mission picture. I found Elders Pender, and Kleine in the picture! Remember them?
[How could we forget? Elder Kleine's parents visited before he went back to Germany -- the same week Elder Ryan left on his mission! And both Elders were incredible examples of good missionaries!]
Saturday night President Darrington gave us permission to watch the BYU - Utah game at members' houses for the whole mission! It was an awesome football game and BYU won in overtime by a touchdown. Did you catch that game?
Well my week was awesome and I look forward to serving now in Cocoa Beach area (Vierra Ward). I will now be really close to the Kennedy Space Center so I might get to go their for a zone pday and if they do anymore launches I could see them up close!
I have a couple of questions for you:
What are your Christmas plans? Which phone # should I call you on the 25th? When I call for Christmas if it's ok for you after I say the initial "hello" I would like to speak with every one individually for 10 minutes rather than all at once for the majority of the time. I thought that might be better but either way I look forward to talking with you. :)
Have a great week! Happy holidays!
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Surfs up from Daytona November 23, 2009
Dear Family,
I loved hearing from all of you. It sounds like you will have an awesome Thanksgiving being reunited with family. Please tell everyone that I said I love them and will be there next year. :)
It was awesome hearing about Daniel and his family! I will definitely remember them in my prayers. If I get the chance I will write them a letter.
My Thanksgiving will include the annual ward turkey bowl football game in the early morning, a lunch with the D's whole family (some family from out of town), the D's are a couple in the ward with a huge family and kind hearts, and a dinner at Grandpa A's with the other missionaries and some ward members. So I will definitely be full on that day. :)
My week went really well and we had a new investigator at church who received a baptismal date. Her name is Shelby and she is the first member referral we have received in a long time. She is friends with the R's daughter and we will hopefully be teaching Shelby's family, too! We had an awesome lesson with her at the R's home yesterday and there was a less active family there, too. We taught the restoration and watched the DVD with them. Shelby is the one who brought up wanting to be baptized herself (always a pleasant surprise for missionaries. :) So she is really excited to work towards her baptismal goal for mid-December and hopefully work towards that with here mom and dad, too!
My week was full of lots of meetings but they helped inspire us to do more in our missionary work so it was good.
Today I might get to play saxophone for the first time in a year. (Don't worry, I will still be able to play :) We are going to meet Bro. H. at his college studio (He is a music professor at Bethune Cookman Uviversity.) early for our dinner appointment and see his office/ hopefully play some instruments! I'll let you know what happens.
We did some really fun and rewarding service this week. We helped Jane again with her back yard (which looks much better by the way) and also helped Bishop fix some things in his kitchen. They were both very appreciative!
This past Wednesday we had a meeting with the stake president and discussed the stake's missionary efforts. We brought to the table each of the area's needs and discussed how we could help each area in their efforts.
I have been asking a lot of members to sign my missionary journal before next Tuesday in case I get transferred soon. I'll find out on Saturday if I get transferred or not.
Right now Danny just got here. He has seen you more recently than I have! We going to have a fun P-day today!
Well, I love you all and wish you a happy Thanksgiving!
Love
Elder Miller
I loved hearing from all of you. It sounds like you will have an awesome Thanksgiving being reunited with family. Please tell everyone that I said I love them and will be there next year. :)
It was awesome hearing about Daniel and his family! I will definitely remember them in my prayers. If I get the chance I will write them a letter.
My Thanksgiving will include the annual ward turkey bowl football game in the early morning, a lunch with the D's whole family (some family from out of town), the D's are a couple in the ward with a huge family and kind hearts, and a dinner at Grandpa A's with the other missionaries and some ward members. So I will definitely be full on that day. :)
My week went really well and we had a new investigator at church who received a baptismal date. Her name is Shelby and she is the first member referral we have received in a long time. She is friends with the R's daughter and we will hopefully be teaching Shelby's family, too! We had an awesome lesson with her at the R's home yesterday and there was a less active family there, too. We taught the restoration and watched the DVD with them. Shelby is the one who brought up wanting to be baptized herself (always a pleasant surprise for missionaries. :) So she is really excited to work towards her baptismal goal for mid-December and hopefully work towards that with here mom and dad, too!
My week was full of lots of meetings but they helped inspire us to do more in our missionary work so it was good.
Today I might get to play saxophone for the first time in a year. (Don't worry, I will still be able to play :) We are going to meet Bro. H. at his college studio (He is a music professor at Bethune Cookman Uviversity.) early for our dinner appointment and see his office/ hopefully play some instruments! I'll let you know what happens.
We did some really fun and rewarding service this week. We helped Jane again with her back yard (which looks much better by the way) and also helped Bishop fix some things in his kitchen. They were both very appreciative!
This past Wednesday we had a meeting with the stake president and discussed the stake's missionary efforts. We brought to the table each of the area's needs and discussed how we could help each area in their efforts.
I have been asking a lot of members to sign my missionary journal before next Tuesday in case I get transferred soon. I'll find out on Saturday if I get transferred or not.
Right now Danny just got here. He has seen you more recently than I have! We going to have a fun P-day today!
Well, I love you all and wish you a happy Thanksgiving!
Love
Elder Miller
Monday, November 23, 2009
Happy Birthday, Dad! November 16, 2009
Dear Mom, Reece, Dad, and Remi,
It was great to hear from all of you! I always enjoy reading your emails and hearing how you are doing. :) So did you get my re-sent email from last week? I hope you finally got it because Mylds mail is not trustworthy, sadly (but the church is perfect).
Just FYI, I hear that there is a rocket launch today at 3:00PM. All of the missionaries in our zone and I will be at zone P-day today at the church and we will go watch the launch as part of it (probably just from the parking lot or drive to the coast to see it from A1A). It is the last Launch that they are doing for a while so i will think of you when they launch it. Hopefully we can all see it. :)
Thank you, Mom, for wrapping Dad's and Remi's gifts for me. They wouldn't have fit in the box if I had tried to wrap them all so I appreciate your help in that. I wasn't sure what envelope you were talking about with pumpkins but I would assume it's something that should have arrived here already. I'll check the mail today and see if it comes. Congrats on your 94% on the civil service test, that's awesome!! So the Fullmers are coming home? Are they finished already? WOW!
GO EL D!! that's awesome to hear about them winning those sweepstakes!
Dad, I am really glad to hear that you enjoyed your gifts! It brought back good memories for me of all of us playing Legos together on the floor. [Elder Miller also sent his brothers and Dad each a Lego car for their B-days!] I hope you have a productive, awesome day! It's amazing to hear how much effort you are putting into the house! I look forward to seeing the finished product in August. :) Richard W. is doing well, he is out of town for the week, but he is still preparing towards baptism on the 5th of December. We also set a new baptismal date with "D" (Dalphinite is his first name). He is a really nice man who is a sanitation engineer and is working with us towards baptism. Sadly the H. family dropped us and will no longer be meeting with us. I think because they are shy and didn't feel comfortable at our ward, plus we just taught them the Word of Wisdom and that was going to be a huge step for them. I think they got scared. But we told them that in the future when they would like to meet with us again to give us a call. We will continue to seek out God's elect and help them prepare for baptism.
Reece, I am amazed at all your hard work. It sounds like it will really be paying off for you (quite literally, too!). Keep up the awesome work! We had nine new investigators this week and we have return appointments set up for this week so I will let you know how that goes. D is pretty cool and he is excited to work towards baptism. Tonight we are going on exchanges with one of the Priests in our ward, Sam. I always enjoy taking the young men on exchanges and learning from their testimonies as much as they learn from mine. It made me think of you and I realized that before I know it you won't be a Priest anymore. I hope you get the opportunity to go on exchanges with this new Elder who is pretty cool. Yes, all my companions so far have been from the U.S. but who knows, that could change. I will probably be transferred soon and get a new companion (most likely on December 1st I will be transferred). I will let you know at the end of the month.
Remi, I hope school is going well for you. I love you and hope you enjoyed your party. :)
I hope all three of you had good birthdays!
I love you all and wish you a great week!
Love,
Your son and brother,
Elder Miller
It was great to hear from all of you! I always enjoy reading your emails and hearing how you are doing. :) So did you get my re-sent email from last week? I hope you finally got it because Mylds mail is not trustworthy, sadly (but the church is perfect).
Just FYI, I hear that there is a rocket launch today at 3:00PM. All of the missionaries in our zone and I will be at zone P-day today at the church and we will go watch the launch as part of it (probably just from the parking lot or drive to the coast to see it from A1A). It is the last Launch that they are doing for a while so i will think of you when they launch it. Hopefully we can all see it. :)
Thank you, Mom, for wrapping Dad's and Remi's gifts for me. They wouldn't have fit in the box if I had tried to wrap them all so I appreciate your help in that. I wasn't sure what envelope you were talking about with pumpkins but I would assume it's something that should have arrived here already. I'll check the mail today and see if it comes. Congrats on your 94% on the civil service test, that's awesome!! So the Fullmers are coming home? Are they finished already? WOW!
GO EL D!! that's awesome to hear about them winning those sweepstakes!
Dad, I am really glad to hear that you enjoyed your gifts! It brought back good memories for me of all of us playing Legos together on the floor. [Elder Miller also sent his brothers and Dad each a Lego car for their B-days!] I hope you have a productive, awesome day! It's amazing to hear how much effort you are putting into the house! I look forward to seeing the finished product in August. :) Richard W. is doing well, he is out of town for the week, but he is still preparing towards baptism on the 5th of December. We also set a new baptismal date with "D" (Dalphinite is his first name). He is a really nice man who is a sanitation engineer and is working with us towards baptism. Sadly the H. family dropped us and will no longer be meeting with us. I think because they are shy and didn't feel comfortable at our ward, plus we just taught them the Word of Wisdom and that was going to be a huge step for them. I think they got scared. But we told them that in the future when they would like to meet with us again to give us a call. We will continue to seek out God's elect and help them prepare for baptism.
Reece, I am amazed at all your hard work. It sounds like it will really be paying off for you (quite literally, too!). Keep up the awesome work! We had nine new investigators this week and we have return appointments set up for this week so I will let you know how that goes. D is pretty cool and he is excited to work towards baptism. Tonight we are going on exchanges with one of the Priests in our ward, Sam. I always enjoy taking the young men on exchanges and learning from their testimonies as much as they learn from mine. It made me think of you and I realized that before I know it you won't be a Priest anymore. I hope you get the opportunity to go on exchanges with this new Elder who is pretty cool. Yes, all my companions so far have been from the U.S. but who knows, that could change. I will probably be transferred soon and get a new companion (most likely on December 1st I will be transferred). I will let you know at the end of the month.
Remi, I hope school is going well for you. I love you and hope you enjoyed your party. :)
I hope all three of you had good birthdays!
I love you all and wish you a great week!
Love,
Your son and brother,
Elder Miller
Hello Family November 9, 2009
Dear Dad, Mom, Reece, and Remi,
It sounds like you had a fun birthday week Reece and Remi! Dad I hope yours is just as fun! And I hope you enjoy your card and gift as well. (I thought you could have fun with it, too.!) By the way I am wearing my shirt today so if any of you are wearing yours, we are matching. [Elder Miller sent his brothers and Dad Biketoberfest T-shirts for their November B-days. Seems that he and his companion somehow ended up in the big Biketoberfest parade! On their bikes with all the Harleys! LOL] :) Mom, I am glad you enjoyed the card I sent you and i hope you had a great week, too.
My week was a busy one with multiple leadership meetings, trainings, and exchanges (Zone Conference on Wednesday, an exchange with Elder Divine, the district leader for Deland district in our zone [he was also on the plane with me when we left the mtc], and Zone Leader Council on Friday in Orlando. Overall it was a great week for me too and I learned a lot from all of the meetings that we had.
This week we began teaching a new investigator, and he came to church for the first time and also received a baptismal date for December 5th. His name is Richard W.and he is a really nice man. He is 31 years old and got in contact with us the same way that your neighbor got in contact with the missionaries (media referral) which by the way I think that is really awesome that your neighbor ordered a copy of the Book of Mormon. Richard was up late earlier this week and felt prompted to order a free copy of the bible from the TV ad and not only did he get his free bible but he also received the restored gospel into his life! He is excited to prepare towards baptism!
The H. family is doing well, they weren't able to make it to church this week because of all of them working :( but hopefully next week. This week we taught them the word of wisdom and they received it well. We introduced them to the Stop Smoking Program and will be doing that with them soon. I will let you know how that goes.
I hope you each have a stellar week and Dad, I hope you have a happy birthday next Monday. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Miller
It sounds like you had a fun birthday week Reece and Remi! Dad I hope yours is just as fun! And I hope you enjoy your card and gift as well. (I thought you could have fun with it, too.!) By the way I am wearing my shirt today so if any of you are wearing yours, we are matching. [Elder Miller sent his brothers and Dad Biketoberfest T-shirts for their November B-days. Seems that he and his companion somehow ended up in the big Biketoberfest parade! On their bikes with all the Harleys! LOL] :) Mom, I am glad you enjoyed the card I sent you and i hope you had a great week, too.
My week was a busy one with multiple leadership meetings, trainings, and exchanges (Zone Conference on Wednesday, an exchange with Elder Divine, the district leader for Deland district in our zone [he was also on the plane with me when we left the mtc], and Zone Leader Council on Friday in Orlando. Overall it was a great week for me too and I learned a lot from all of the meetings that we had.
This week we began teaching a new investigator, and he came to church for the first time and also received a baptismal date for December 5th. His name is Richard W.and he is a really nice man. He is 31 years old and got in contact with us the same way that your neighbor got in contact with the missionaries (media referral) which by the way I think that is really awesome that your neighbor ordered a copy of the Book of Mormon. Richard was up late earlier this week and felt prompted to order a free copy of the bible from the TV ad and not only did he get his free bible but he also received the restored gospel into his life! He is excited to prepare towards baptism!
The H. family is doing well, they weren't able to make it to church this week because of all of them working :( but hopefully next week. This week we taught them the word of wisdom and they received it well. We introduced them to the Stop Smoking Program and will be doing that with them soon. I will let you know how that goes.
I hope you each have a stellar week and Dad, I hope you have a happy birthday next Monday. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Miller
With Love From Daytona November 2, 2009
Dear Family,
It sounds like you all had a fun Halloween. I'm glad you got to go trick-or-treating, Remi, with Mom, and Dad! This Halloween made me think a lot about the times we shared running from house to house with our pillowcases or pumpkin buckets trying to get as much candy as possible. Sadly, in this area of town there were no trick or treaters. :( But Elder Hansen and I went contacting in the ghettos and talked to a few trick or treaters. (Nothing like I remember going around when I was younger). Some one asked us if we were cops for Halloween. Haha. The Ward Halloween party was fun. There was twice the Sacrament attendance there! Lots of less active members and non-members came. :) Thank you for your kind Halloween package. I got it a couple days before Halloween so I have been sharing the treats with my roommates.
Speaking of packages I have something that I am putting in the mail today that will hopefully get there soon since your birthday is tomorrow, Reece! Remi and Dad you can expect something soon as well. :) I hope you enjoy it.
Remi, I am sorry to say that we aren't having that baptism on your birthday anymore. We had to move the date back so that the father, Gordon could have time to get off work and come to church. Their new date is for the 21st and that is for both Gordon and Michelle and also their daughter Joanna. We are still really excited for them to be baptized! And yes, I will send pictures of our new apartment for you. :) I am excited for you to turn 13! I can't believe my little bro will be a teenager this week! Happy early birthday. :)
Reece, I appreciate your enthusiasm Reece, but I actually have 9 months left. [Reece bumped to 8 in our e-mail! Wishful thinking!] just so you know. :) I am excited to see you again, too. I hope you have an awesome birthday tomorrow. Let me know what you did for your birthday. I hope your gifts get there on time. I will do my best to make them get there by tomorrow, but if they are a little late please forgive me. No, I didn't get to carve a pumpkin this year, but I did get to help out someone in need which made my Halloween a special one. I was walking out of the church to grab the map book for our area when a woman slammed on her brakes and reversed to the spot I was walking to. Her name was Robin and she explained that she had been looking all day for someone to help her. She was driving her neighbors truck around to try to get the necessary parts of her work uniform for her new job which starts for her today at Cracker Barrel. She had been out of work for 6 months so she had no money to purchase a white oxford shirt and dress shoes for her uniform but she had already priced it at Walmart. So Elder Hansen and I went to Walmart and I bought her a gift card so she could by the right stuff for her job. That morning I had prayed for the opportunity to help out one of God's children, in efforts to follow the guidance and counsel I had received in General Conference, of service and love (President Uchtdorf's talk on love and president Monson's talk on service). I know the Lord answers our prayers and He not only answered mine that day but more importantly he answered Robin's prayers for help.
Mom, it's awesome to hear about your writers group. Congrats on all your strides and accomplishments in writing. I look forward to reading your novel when I get back. :) I also appreciate your help at the missionary table [Our Ward was sweet enough to have a "missionary table" at the fall festival, where members could come and write a message to the three missionaries serving from our Ward.] and look forward to those belated messages.
Dad, it was neat to hear about you and our family having that man into your home for FHE. I bet that made his week! I laughed at your running into the Jehovah's Witnesses. It happens to us all the time so I could relate to the being shared irrelevant scriptures. There is a great letter written by Mark E. Peterson to a Jehovah's witness which teaches the true doctrine of the God head and other doctrines using the Jehovah Witnesses' own Bible! You should read it if you get the chance. I was writing in my journal recently and I couldn't remember if I told you yet, but I really want you actually read your mission journals when I get back. They now have a lot more importance to me because I have a greater understanding of the Gospel and of missionary work. That talk given in General Conference by Elder Ballard really made me want to read those even more. I will share mine with you as well and we can relate mission experiences. I look forward to that day. :)
I had a great week. I still can't comprehend how weeks go by so fast but they seem to go by faster and faster, almost like Star Trek light speed or something. :) I love you all and wish Reece, Remi, and Dad happy birthdays this month! And mom I wish you a happy week as well.
Love,
Elder Miller
It sounds like you all had a fun Halloween. I'm glad you got to go trick-or-treating, Remi, with Mom, and Dad! This Halloween made me think a lot about the times we shared running from house to house with our pillowcases or pumpkin buckets trying to get as much candy as possible. Sadly, in this area of town there were no trick or treaters. :( But Elder Hansen and I went contacting in the ghettos and talked to a few trick or treaters. (Nothing like I remember going around when I was younger). Some one asked us if we were cops for Halloween. Haha. The Ward Halloween party was fun. There was twice the Sacrament attendance there! Lots of less active members and non-members came. :) Thank you for your kind Halloween package. I got it a couple days before Halloween so I have been sharing the treats with my roommates.
Speaking of packages I have something that I am putting in the mail today that will hopefully get there soon since your birthday is tomorrow, Reece! Remi and Dad you can expect something soon as well. :) I hope you enjoy it.
Remi, I am sorry to say that we aren't having that baptism on your birthday anymore. We had to move the date back so that the father, Gordon could have time to get off work and come to church. Their new date is for the 21st and that is for both Gordon and Michelle and also their daughter Joanna. We are still really excited for them to be baptized! And yes, I will send pictures of our new apartment for you. :) I am excited for you to turn 13! I can't believe my little bro will be a teenager this week! Happy early birthday. :)
Reece, I appreciate your enthusiasm Reece, but I actually have 9 months left. [Reece bumped to 8 in our e-mail! Wishful thinking!] just so you know. :) I am excited to see you again, too. I hope you have an awesome birthday tomorrow. Let me know what you did for your birthday. I hope your gifts get there on time. I will do my best to make them get there by tomorrow, but if they are a little late please forgive me. No, I didn't get to carve a pumpkin this year, but I did get to help out someone in need which made my Halloween a special one. I was walking out of the church to grab the map book for our area when a woman slammed on her brakes and reversed to the spot I was walking to. Her name was Robin and she explained that she had been looking all day for someone to help her. She was driving her neighbors truck around to try to get the necessary parts of her work uniform for her new job which starts for her today at Cracker Barrel. She had been out of work for 6 months so she had no money to purchase a white oxford shirt and dress shoes for her uniform but she had already priced it at Walmart. So Elder Hansen and I went to Walmart and I bought her a gift card so she could by the right stuff for her job. That morning I had prayed for the opportunity to help out one of God's children, in efforts to follow the guidance and counsel I had received in General Conference, of service and love (President Uchtdorf's talk on love and president Monson's talk on service). I know the Lord answers our prayers and He not only answered mine that day but more importantly he answered Robin's prayers for help.
Mom, it's awesome to hear about your writers group. Congrats on all your strides and accomplishments in writing. I look forward to reading your novel when I get back. :) I also appreciate your help at the missionary table [Our Ward was sweet enough to have a "missionary table" at the fall festival, where members could come and write a message to the three missionaries serving from our Ward.] and look forward to those belated messages.
Dad, it was neat to hear about you and our family having that man into your home for FHE. I bet that made his week! I laughed at your running into the Jehovah's Witnesses. It happens to us all the time so I could relate to the being shared irrelevant scriptures. There is a great letter written by Mark E. Peterson to a Jehovah's witness which teaches the true doctrine of the God head and other doctrines using the Jehovah Witnesses' own Bible! You should read it if you get the chance. I was writing in my journal recently and I couldn't remember if I told you yet, but I really want you actually read your mission journals when I get back. They now have a lot more importance to me because I have a greater understanding of the Gospel and of missionary work. That talk given in General Conference by Elder Ballard really made me want to read those even more. I will share mine with you as well and we can relate mission experiences. I look forward to that day. :)
I had a great week. I still can't comprehend how weeks go by so fast but they seem to go by faster and faster, almost like Star Trek light speed or something. :) I love you all and wish Reece, Remi, and Dad happy birthdays this month! And mom I wish you a happy week as well.
Love,
Elder Miller
Hello Family! October 26, 2009
Thank you for your email! At first it wasn't working but luckily it fixed itself and started working again. It sounds like your unpacking and moving is a much longer stretch than it has been for us (one day), but that's because we only have the stuff we can take with us as missionaries which makes moving a lot easier. :)
We still have to finish cleaning our old apartment before the lease is up at the end of the month and last time we worked on it was kind of depressing because of what a dump it is compared to our new place, haha.
Reece and Remi (and Dad shortly after them) I am excited for you having your birthdays this upcoming month. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Remi will be a teenager! When did that happen? I hope you have some fun activities planned for your special days. Let me know how they go. :)
I have a favor to ask of you. Recently I have received emails from old friends in California, which is nice for me, but our mission president has asked us that we only email family and him through email and write letters to everyone else. I want to be obedient to this so if you can will you please take my email address off of public viewing (facebook or anything else). I think you were able to put it on my facebook so if you could replace it with my mission office writing address, that would be great. Your help is appreciated, thank you. :)
My week went really well. Michelle and Joana (her 18 yr. old daughter) came to all three hours of church! I hope they were able to feel the spirit. We will talk with them more about it when we meet with them tomorrow night. Their baptismal date is on your birthday, Remi!
Eddie and Kathy & family have been doing really well and we even talked to some of her less active family members last night and committed them to come to church with us soon.
This weekend, on Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with a kind, older man who's wife used to be a member. His name is Charlie and we tracted into him one day so he decided to call the # on our pamphlet that we left him and invite us to eat lunch with him. His wife is gone in Canada taking care of her mother so he is very lonely and I feel sorry for him. If felt good to offer him friendship and he was very kind to have us for lunch.
We have recently taught James H. a 21-year-old surfer and he is very bright and understands what we teach him from the scriptures and the lessons. His concern is being nervous about coming to church. So we are giving him a church tour tonight to help him feel comfortable with the environment and feel the spirit.
This week we also had the chance to eat dinner with the H. family on the riverside dock at their home. It was a beautiful day and it was a lot of fun to see the Halifax river from their second story dock. We ate Digornos pizza so it made me think of you guys and our pizza nights. Good memories. :)
This week we also had the opportunity to do service for Jane and help with her mom's house and backyard. We hope that she will continue to be receptive to our service and message.
Well, I love you all and hope that things continue to be accomplished on your new home. Take care and Stay strong!
Love,
Elder Miller
We still have to finish cleaning our old apartment before the lease is up at the end of the month and last time we worked on it was kind of depressing because of what a dump it is compared to our new place, haha.
Reece and Remi (and Dad shortly after them) I am excited for you having your birthdays this upcoming month. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Remi will be a teenager! When did that happen? I hope you have some fun activities planned for your special days. Let me know how they go. :)
I have a favor to ask of you. Recently I have received emails from old friends in California, which is nice for me, but our mission president has asked us that we only email family and him through email and write letters to everyone else. I want to be obedient to this so if you can will you please take my email address off of public viewing (facebook or anything else). I think you were able to put it on my facebook so if you could replace it with my mission office writing address, that would be great. Your help is appreciated, thank you. :)
My week went really well. Michelle and Joana (her 18 yr. old daughter) came to all three hours of church! I hope they were able to feel the spirit. We will talk with them more about it when we meet with them tomorrow night. Their baptismal date is on your birthday, Remi!
Eddie and Kathy & family have been doing really well and we even talked to some of her less active family members last night and committed them to come to church with us soon.
This weekend, on Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with a kind, older man who's wife used to be a member. His name is Charlie and we tracted into him one day so he decided to call the # on our pamphlet that we left him and invite us to eat lunch with him. His wife is gone in Canada taking care of her mother so he is very lonely and I feel sorry for him. If felt good to offer him friendship and he was very kind to have us for lunch.
We have recently taught James H. a 21-year-old surfer and he is very bright and understands what we teach him from the scriptures and the lessons. His concern is being nervous about coming to church. So we are giving him a church tour tonight to help him feel comfortable with the environment and feel the spirit.
This week we also had the chance to eat dinner with the H. family on the riverside dock at their home. It was a beautiful day and it was a lot of fun to see the Halifax river from their second story dock. We ate Digornos pizza so it made me think of you guys and our pizza nights. Good memories. :)
This week we also had the opportunity to do service for Jane and help with her mom's house and backyard. We hope that she will continue to be receptive to our service and message.
Well, I love you all and hope that things continue to be accomplished on your new home. Take care and Stay strong!
Love,
Elder Miller
Goodmorning Fellow Movers October 19, 2009
Dear Family,
I am so glad to hear that you were able to get all the moving done and accomplish that this weekend. I prayed for you every day and know that the Lord helped you in your efforts. I pray that you will be able to get everything in order and organized as well. Our move went really well, too! We were able to move almost everything at one time with the help of Brother B. and his large trailer. I took lots of pictures that I will send you soon. I told you more about this week in the letter that should go out in the mail today to you. I already apologized in my letter but I want to apologize for not being able to get the letter and picture CD out yet but I will make sure it goes out today. :)
My week was much better! Elder Hansen and I had a very productive and a diligent week and I definitely felt your prayers on my behalf. We received 10 new investigators this week and contacted 140 people! We even taught 31 lessons! I experienced the atonement in my life this week as I repented and did my best and I can definitely say that the Lord blessed us this week. This week is going to be another great week! Dad and Mom, thank you so much for your words of advice, it was exactly what I needed to hear and went along with what I have learned with the guidance of the Holy Ghost this week so thank you.
I told you about a lot in my letter so I won't be to repetitive. But one of the things that I talked about in my letter was our new investigators, Gordon and Michelle H. who have a baptismal date for November 7th. They are really awesome and have 6 children and 8 grandchildren so the gospel can not only effect their lives but also their whole family!
I feel so blessed this week to be living in a nice new apartment and I have definitely been able to feel the spirit more in this clean environment. Transfer calls were Saturday and luckily I am staying here in Daytona for at least another 6 weeks. It would have stunk to have to move all of my stuff again! Plus, I want to enjoy this apartment while I can, but more importantly there are still people here in Daytona that I know are ready for the gospel and it is my responsibility to bring it to them!
So it was really neat to hear about Mike Rowland going on his mission. If I am able to make time I will definitely write him. When is Allen Strickland leaving again on his mission?
Well, I love you all and hope that my pictures and letter get to you in the next couple of days. Have a great week and I will pray for you.
Love,
Elder Miller
I am so glad to hear that you were able to get all the moving done and accomplish that this weekend. I prayed for you every day and know that the Lord helped you in your efforts. I pray that you will be able to get everything in order and organized as well. Our move went really well, too! We were able to move almost everything at one time with the help of Brother B. and his large trailer. I took lots of pictures that I will send you soon. I told you more about this week in the letter that should go out in the mail today to you. I already apologized in my letter but I want to apologize for not being able to get the letter and picture CD out yet but I will make sure it goes out today. :)
My week was much better! Elder Hansen and I had a very productive and a diligent week and I definitely felt your prayers on my behalf. We received 10 new investigators this week and contacted 140 people! We even taught 31 lessons! I experienced the atonement in my life this week as I repented and did my best and I can definitely say that the Lord blessed us this week. This week is going to be another great week! Dad and Mom, thank you so much for your words of advice, it was exactly what I needed to hear and went along with what I have learned with the guidance of the Holy Ghost this week so thank you.
I told you about a lot in my letter so I won't be to repetitive. But one of the things that I talked about in my letter was our new investigators, Gordon and Michelle H. who have a baptismal date for November 7th. They are really awesome and have 6 children and 8 grandchildren so the gospel can not only effect their lives but also their whole family!
I feel so blessed this week to be living in a nice new apartment and I have definitely been able to feel the spirit more in this clean environment. Transfer calls were Saturday and luckily I am staying here in Daytona for at least another 6 weeks. It would have stunk to have to move all of my stuff again! Plus, I want to enjoy this apartment while I can, but more importantly there are still people here in Daytona that I know are ready for the gospel and it is my responsibility to bring it to them!
So it was really neat to hear about Mike Rowland going on his mission. If I am able to make time I will definitely write him. When is Allen Strickland leaving again on his mission?
Well, I love you all and hope that my pictures and letter get to you in the next couple of days. Have a great week and I will pray for you.
Love,
Elder Miller
Hello Family October 12, 2009
Dear Family,
My week was a good week but we struggled to reach our goals this week. I really enjoyed the talks given at General Conference and I will do my best to implement those in my life to receive revelation and guidance in all aspects of the work.
Glad to hear that the house is coming along. This final stretch may very well be the most difficult stretch for you but I have the faith and the prayers that you will be able to finish everything and do a great job at it, too!
Thank you so much for your excitement on my behalf. I'm really excited to see you again, too, when I finish my mission.
Right now it has been difficult because we have had to drop all of our investigators because they weren't progressing. But I have the faith that the Lord will help us find new investigators to teach and baptize. This week I am going to make absolutely sure that I do everything I can in my power to make this happen and then leave the rest up to the Lord. I will do my best and the Lord will do the rest. This week we are moving on Wednesday. A member is using his trailer to help us transport our couch and desks. Luckily I don't have to paint anything or install flooring so I can spend more time doing missionary work. Your moving job is much harder than mine but I will pray that the Lord will strengthen you in the move and help you accomplish everything that needs to be done.
Church and my companion are doing well. There is definitely a lot to learn from both. Lately I have been learning patience with others and other lessons that will help me later on in life with marriage.
I don't think I will be transferred next week, but I guess I never know for sure. I imagine that I will be here for one more.
So how are Roxy and Truman doing? I was thinking about them as I played with another members animals and I realized that Truman is 13. I sure hope he is doing well when I get to see him again. :)
I did get you letter mom, and I will be sending that CD and letter in the mail today. Thank you for always thinking of me. :) I wish you the best in finding a source of employment and also in finishing the house.
You all make a great team and you are able to accomplish a lot together. Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far!
I love each of you and hope that my pictures arrive soon. It's a picture CD of all my pictures from my time in Daytona. Have an awesome week and a great move!
Love,
Elder Miller
My week was a good week but we struggled to reach our goals this week. I really enjoyed the talks given at General Conference and I will do my best to implement those in my life to receive revelation and guidance in all aspects of the work.
Glad to hear that the house is coming along. This final stretch may very well be the most difficult stretch for you but I have the faith and the prayers that you will be able to finish everything and do a great job at it, too!
Thank you so much for your excitement on my behalf. I'm really excited to see you again, too, when I finish my mission.
Right now it has been difficult because we have had to drop all of our investigators because they weren't progressing. But I have the faith that the Lord will help us find new investigators to teach and baptize. This week I am going to make absolutely sure that I do everything I can in my power to make this happen and then leave the rest up to the Lord. I will do my best and the Lord will do the rest. This week we are moving on Wednesday. A member is using his trailer to help us transport our couch and desks. Luckily I don't have to paint anything or install flooring so I can spend more time doing missionary work. Your moving job is much harder than mine but I will pray that the Lord will strengthen you in the move and help you accomplish everything that needs to be done.
Church and my companion are doing well. There is definitely a lot to learn from both. Lately I have been learning patience with others and other lessons that will help me later on in life with marriage.
I don't think I will be transferred next week, but I guess I never know for sure. I imagine that I will be here for one more.
So how are Roxy and Truman doing? I was thinking about them as I played with another members animals and I realized that Truman is 13. I sure hope he is doing well when I get to see him again. :)
I did get you letter mom, and I will be sending that CD and letter in the mail today. Thank you for always thinking of me. :) I wish you the best in finding a source of employment and also in finishing the house.
You all make a great team and you are able to accomplish a lot together. Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far!
I love each of you and hope that my pictures arrive soon. It's a picture CD of all my pictures from my time in Daytona. Have an awesome week and a great move!
Love,
Elder Miller
Friday, November 6, 2009
Apology from Momma Blogger
I'm now officially a month behind on posting Elder Miller's faithful e-mails. In other words -- it is not that Ryan is not writing. For some reason Blogspot will not let me copy and paste into a new post! At least not on this computer. I suspect it was caused when I updated our Internet Explorer, but now I'm forced to use our older, and very slow, computer . . . which makes me very slow at updating.
It's my goal to get it caught up this weekend! But Elder Miller is fine and still in Daytona Beach, serving as zone leader with Elder Hanson. He did mention that he doesn't get much mail anymore, so if you've been meaning to write him, I know he would love and appreciate it!
Thanks for remembering our Elder!
~Roni (Proud Missionary Mom of Elder Miller)
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