Dear Family,
I can tell you each had an eventful and exciting week. My week was great, too!
Reece, congratulations on being ordained to the office of an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood! That is a very special step in your life and as Dad spoke with you about, you have some other very important steps coming up that you can really look forward to. I am happy that you are having a great time and want you to know that I will be there with you in spirit and in thought at your graduation. I love you Bro.!
Remi, It was really cool to hear about your service project for the day of service on Saturday. Because that is something nation wide (possibly world wide, at least for members of the church) I felt connected to you and our family since I was able to help out as well. I will tell the whole family more about the project our ward helped with later in my e-mail. We got your storm last night and this morning. That was some pretty intense lightning! One of the lightning strikes hit really close to our apartments because I saw the flash and the sound came at the same time! I hope you enjoy the end of your school year as well. Keep working hard. I love you, Remi!
Mom, I enjoyed hearing about your work and young women's calling. That's neat that your ward friends know people that I do! (Brother Charles "Chuck" or "Chip" Barrett is the one you were referring to.) It is a small world when you're in Christ's Church! I hope work continues to go well for you. I have a favor to ask of you. Remember a year or more ago when you mentioned in your e-mail that you would pray specifically for my companion and I to have baptisms and confirmations. I remember having a lot of those in a row at that time and that is the best part of missionary work- getting to see everything you've been teaching God's children be fully accepted and come into play at the waters of baptism. Will you and our continue praying specifically for baptisms? Thank you. I love you!
Dad, Awesome job on your graphic design work and your seminary calling. It is great to hear that you and our family having great success in Lakeland. I can definitely see the blessings that God has given our family with the move! To answer your questions about the upcoming transfer: The things I will teach the new missionary I am training, among the basics of missionary work, will definitely include the importance of Faith and Hard work in every thing we do, patience with companions and investigators alike, and loving every aspect of the work. I will teach him what doesn't work: negativity, laziness, and anything less than love. I do still remember my first days in the field, and I will help him to have hard working, tiring days that are full of love for the people, excitement for the work, and lessons for life. I will have patience with him because I remember how tired I was when I first came out and I understand that it is a big change from the "real world" and even from the MTC. I look forward to helping another Elder in his embarking on this great journey of service and love for God and His children. I have been keeping in touch with my converts and I will be attending Danny P's endowment session soon! I also hope to see Eddy and Kathy's sealing for their family after my mission. I will continue to keep in touch with these wonderful families. I love you Dad!
Something that president Darringiton reminded me of in his e-mail to me this week is that, "A person with a “sincere heart’ really wants to know and a person who has “real intent” is willing to act upon that spiritual prompting. These two things are keys to conversion." I have found this to be true as I have worked with many people towards having their own conversion. These are key points for those we are working right now.
This week we invited three of God's children to be baptized by His authority on the earth today. Two of them, Larry and Darleena, said that they would like to make that a goal at some point in their life and tonight we will be inviting them with the Lord's invitation to be baptized on May 22nd. I pray that they will experience true conversion and accept the Lord's commitment for baptism! The other person we invited, Christie, did not accept baptism into the Lord's Church. Our plans as guided by the Spirit are to introduce her to the F. family who live near her and have a Family Home Evening together in their home with Christie. We will also continue to bear testimony of the truthfulness of our message and continue inviting her to read and pray with a sincere heart and real intent.
I wanted to also tell you about the service project I helped out with this weekend. We helped Habitat for Humanity put up sheet rock and paint the outside of a house for it's future family. We were able to work alongside the family who were going to be the home owners and that was extra special because we could see the immediate influence of our efforts. To see pictures of myself, other missionaries, and our ward members working on the house, check out habitatmartin.org for the link to their flicker site where they will have pictures from Saturday's project. The pictures should be uploaded within a couple of days. Hope you can find them!
On Sunday Elder Engemann and I both spoke in Sacrament meeting. I spoke on immortality and Eternal life and he spoke on Charity. I feel that the spirit really guided us and the Lord helped us prepare our talks. The youth speaker wasn't able to give his talk and Elder Engemann spoke for 10 minutes so I ended up needing to speak for 25 minutes. It went really well though and I had plenty of material to fill the time. This was the first time that I tried simply making an outline of the doctrine I wanted to cover and then just speaking from the heart and by the spirit. I really enjoyed doing it that way.
We had a great zone conference! I thoroughly enjoyed the doctrinal message of the Plan of Salvation because it helped me to better understand the doctrine for myself, to know how to teach it more effectively, and to strengthen my own testimony of God's plan of happiness for us. I am grateful to have such great leadership and guidance on my mission from President Darrington. Next conference will be our last with him.
There is so much more that I wanted to share with you this week but because of lack of time I will write the rest to you in a letter soon. Hope you all have an amazing week! I love you!
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, April 26, 2010
Good Morning from Port St. Lucie! April 19, 2010
Dear Mom, Dad, Reece, and Remi:
Hello! Sounds like your week was busy but good. Congrats, Mom, on the new calling; you'll do great! I am glad to hear that seminary and work are going well for you, Dad! Reece, I am so proud of you and excited for you to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday! Remi, I can tell you're a big help around the house and I know Dad appreciates your efforts!
Well, I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to do in regards to going "home" to Visalia or to Lakeland. During appropriate times of the week I made two Pros and Cons lists- one for going to Visalia first and one for going to Lakeland first. I had made my decision with the assumption that the whole family would be able to fly out to California. That was my mistake, I just misunderstood the circumstances. Dad and Mom, I had thought that maybe you would be able to take some time off work (less that a week) and you and my brothers would meet me in the Fresno airport and we would spend time with friends and ward family in Visalia. But since that is not the case I would prefer to see you, my family, first before going out to visit Visalia. I think it would be too hard for me to really enjoy my visit back "home" if I hadn't seen you first, you know? So I will be happy to meet you at the mission office or mission home (which ever the President prefers) on the 11th in Orlando and then go home with you to Lakeland. With that in mind, like you said I would really like to go back to visit Visalia, maybe like your friend suggested-with Reece and I before school starts or something. I just couldn't imagine my first "homecoming" being with out my family. Now, if for some reason all of you could come out to Visalia to meet me there I would choose that first, but unless that is the case I will be happy with Lakeland first, Visalia later. :)
Mom, I appreciate you looking for further scholarships for both of us. That will really be helpful considering I will be almost broke upon returning from my mission. I will get work as soon as possible, but scholarships will definitely be appreciated. I will also be talking with President Darrington and/or President Hall about the BYU-I return missionary scholarship that is available to me through them. I'm not sure if that is a sure thing because I know there are a lot of returning missionaries from our mission that are going the BYU-I at the same time as me, but I will definitely try. As far as classes go, at this point I do not want to take any more Psychology courses, but I do want to take more General Eds and Music classes (especially Sound Alliance). I would appreciate your help in seeing what classes make sense for me. I will be happy to answer any questions that will help. Thanks for helping me with this! One more thought- I would love for Reece and I to be able to get a nice apartment together with people that we know. A four man would probably be best. Andy mentioned wanting to room together with us in his last letter to me and I think that would be great! I would like to know from Reece what he would like to do and also where and with who would be best. Please let me know. :)
This week went well for us in many ways. We were able to start getting the members involved in our teaching. We've been teaching a lot of other lessons still - 23 this week!, but we are also starting to get the members involved in exchanges and lessons in their home. We had an amazing discussion on Sunday afternoon in the B. family home with their investigator friend Kenny. Both sister B. and her recent convert friend, Sister W., bore powerful testimony to Kenny about their own personal conversions, and of the restored gospel and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It was a great experience to be involved in such a special lesson with Kenny! He voluntarily committed himself to coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon-- in two weeks! We look forward to meeting with him and his two kids again soon and continuing to share the restored gospel with him. I am excited to extend the Lord's invitation for baptism to him as the Spirit directs.
This week we invited Tiffany, our friend from the Bahamas who came to church for the first time last week, to be baptized and she said she would need to pray about it. For our lesson with her we read a lot together from the Book of Mormon and helped explain its importance. More importantly we did our best to help her feel the Spirit as we read from the words of the Savior in 3 Nephi 11 as He taught us about baptism. I pray that she will continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray specifically for God to give her an answer if it is true. I know that if she follows the advice that Moroni gave in chapter 10 that she WILL receive an answer!
Elder Engemann and I did everything we could to help those we are teaching to make it to church this week and we prayed fervently together that those we had invited would be able to attend. Although none of them came, I have strong faith that they will come next week and that the Lord has a plan for each of His children, even if I might not always understand what He specifically needs for them. I look forward to a spiritually empowering zone conference tomorrow focused on the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation and I know that this upcoming week will be a successful, exciting one. I have prepared myself for a spiritual "feast." Please tell Grandma, Rodney, and Grandpa, Randy, Lana and our all family that I said hi! Thank you for all you do for me as my family!
Love,
Elder Miller
Hello! Sounds like your week was busy but good. Congrats, Mom, on the new calling; you'll do great! I am glad to hear that seminary and work are going well for you, Dad! Reece, I am so proud of you and excited for you to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday! Remi, I can tell you're a big help around the house and I know Dad appreciates your efforts!
Well, I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to do in regards to going "home" to Visalia or to Lakeland. During appropriate times of the week I made two Pros and Cons lists- one for going to Visalia first and one for going to Lakeland first. I had made my decision with the assumption that the whole family would be able to fly out to California. That was my mistake, I just misunderstood the circumstances. Dad and Mom, I had thought that maybe you would be able to take some time off work (less that a week) and you and my brothers would meet me in the Fresno airport and we would spend time with friends and ward family in Visalia. But since that is not the case I would prefer to see you, my family, first before going out to visit Visalia. I think it would be too hard for me to really enjoy my visit back "home" if I hadn't seen you first, you know? So I will be happy to meet you at the mission office or mission home (which ever the President prefers) on the 11th in Orlando and then go home with you to Lakeland. With that in mind, like you said I would really like to go back to visit Visalia, maybe like your friend suggested-with Reece and I before school starts or something. I just couldn't imagine my first "homecoming" being with out my family. Now, if for some reason all of you could come out to Visalia to meet me there I would choose that first, but unless that is the case I will be happy with Lakeland first, Visalia later. :)
Mom, I appreciate you looking for further scholarships for both of us. That will really be helpful considering I will be almost broke upon returning from my mission. I will get work as soon as possible, but scholarships will definitely be appreciated. I will also be talking with President Darrington and/or President Hall about the BYU-I return missionary scholarship that is available to me through them. I'm not sure if that is a sure thing because I know there are a lot of returning missionaries from our mission that are going the BYU-I at the same time as me, but I will definitely try. As far as classes go, at this point I do not want to take any more Psychology courses, but I do want to take more General Eds and Music classes (especially Sound Alliance). I would appreciate your help in seeing what classes make sense for me. I will be happy to answer any questions that will help. Thanks for helping me with this! One more thought- I would love for Reece and I to be able to get a nice apartment together with people that we know. A four man would probably be best. Andy mentioned wanting to room together with us in his last letter to me and I think that would be great! I would like to know from Reece what he would like to do and also where and with who would be best. Please let me know. :)
This week went well for us in many ways. We were able to start getting the members involved in our teaching. We've been teaching a lot of other lessons still - 23 this week!, but we are also starting to get the members involved in exchanges and lessons in their home. We had an amazing discussion on Sunday afternoon in the B. family home with their investigator friend Kenny. Both sister B. and her recent convert friend, Sister W., bore powerful testimony to Kenny about their own personal conversions, and of the restored gospel and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It was a great experience to be involved in such a special lesson with Kenny! He voluntarily committed himself to coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon-- in two weeks! We look forward to meeting with him and his two kids again soon and continuing to share the restored gospel with him. I am excited to extend the Lord's invitation for baptism to him as the Spirit directs.
This week we invited Tiffany, our friend from the Bahamas who came to church for the first time last week, to be baptized and she said she would need to pray about it. For our lesson with her we read a lot together from the Book of Mormon and helped explain its importance. More importantly we did our best to help her feel the Spirit as we read from the words of the Savior in 3 Nephi 11 as He taught us about baptism. I pray that she will continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray specifically for God to give her an answer if it is true. I know that if she follows the advice that Moroni gave in chapter 10 that she WILL receive an answer!
Elder Engemann and I did everything we could to help those we are teaching to make it to church this week and we prayed fervently together that those we had invited would be able to attend. Although none of them came, I have strong faith that they will come next week and that the Lord has a plan for each of His children, even if I might not always understand what He specifically needs for them. I look forward to a spiritually empowering zone conference tomorrow focused on the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation and I know that this upcoming week will be a successful, exciting one. I have prepared myself for a spiritual "feast." Please tell Grandma, Rodney, and Grandpa, Randy, Lana and our all family that I said hi! Thank you for all you do for me as my family!
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, April 12, 2010
Love from Port St. Lucie April 12, 2010
Dear Family,
I really enjoyed your e-mail. It was fun to hear about your fun-filled week with family, friends, Disney, beach, and swimming! [Aunt Wanda and cousin Zach came from Illinois AND we got to see our dear friends from Michigan, too!] Time is flying by, much to fast, but like you said I am just making the most of it while I still have time left.
Congratulations, Reece, on preparing to be ordained an Elder! That's way exciting. I am happy for you! I will definitely keep Grandpa, Lana, and Randy in my prayers.
My week was awesome! My last full day in Viera (Monday) was fun-filled, too, with the shuttle launch, playing Frisbee golf at Wickham park, and visiting a lot of my favorite families in the ward before I left. Brother W., a really nice member from the Viera ward, drove me to my new area Tuesday morning, which covers the city of Port St. Lucie. He also signed my member journal and with his entry my journal is now completely full! I will have to add in some pages for the members of my last area.
I am really enjoying my new assignment here in Port St. Lucie. Elder Engemann is an amazing missionary and is not limited in doing the work by only having been out for one transfer. He is a hard worker and has a strong testimony. I am happy to be serving with him!
We taught 35 other lessons together this week, most of them sitting down in the person's home and beginning and ending with a prayer. We also were blessed with 7 new investigators. Some of the lessons were lessons we taught at the door step but each one was a great experience for us and we felt the spirit teaching through us. As quoted from Preach my Gospel in general conference, (paraphrasing) "We are successful and know the Lord is pleased when we feel the spirit working through us." I am grateful for that knowledge and the blessing of the Holy Ghost speaking through my companion and me. This area has proven really good for tracting -- lots of positive people who will listen to us.
One focus we have this week is helping the ward get involved in the missionary work here. They are really nice members, they just need some ideas as to how to go about doing the work. Thankfully I have been in some amazing wards where member referrals are the source of most of the baptisms (like Viera), so I can apply what I have learned from previous areas and with the Lord's help we will have success in working with the members here. I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of the nice members here on Sunday: Brother H., who gave us a ride to and from church in his large RV, The H. family who had us into their home while we were in their area last night and then gave us and our bikes a ride home after we finished tracting so we wouldn't get rained on, and the L. family who makes up over half the ward choir. I took the opportunity to jump right into the ward as I have in past areas by singing with the choir for sacrament meeting yesterday. It was our ward conference and we sang an arrangement of "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and another sacrament hymn. Music has been a great missionary opportunity for me!
Before I forget here is my new apartment address:
Elder Ryan J.J. Miller
231 SW Palm Drive #102
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
[I left this in -- It's Elder Miller's very last missionary address, so write away!!! He is scheduled to come home on August 11th. We'll be letting friends know where exactly he'll be coming "home" to, soon. We hope to have "homecoming talks" in both California and Florida.]
Another cool experience we had this week was doing service for Christie. She is in her 20's and needed help with weeding, mulching, and planting flowers in her garden. We brought the other Elders with us to help (Elders Bennett and Stolle) and we had a lot of fun. Christie also came to Church this weekend and she said she enjoyed it. We are meeting with her again on Tuesday and hopefully she will come to Church again this coming Sunday!
Thank you for your letters I received this past week. I appreciate the love and prayers you constantly bless me with. I look forward to hearing from all of you again soon. I love you.
Love,
Elder Miller
I really enjoyed your e-mail. It was fun to hear about your fun-filled week with family, friends, Disney, beach, and swimming! [Aunt Wanda and cousin Zach came from Illinois AND we got to see our dear friends from Michigan, too!] Time is flying by, much to fast, but like you said I am just making the most of it while I still have time left.
Congratulations, Reece, on preparing to be ordained an Elder! That's way exciting. I am happy for you! I will definitely keep Grandpa, Lana, and Randy in my prayers.
My week was awesome! My last full day in Viera (Monday) was fun-filled, too, with the shuttle launch, playing Frisbee golf at Wickham park, and visiting a lot of my favorite families in the ward before I left. Brother W., a really nice member from the Viera ward, drove me to my new area Tuesday morning, which covers the city of Port St. Lucie. He also signed my member journal and with his entry my journal is now completely full! I will have to add in some pages for the members of my last area.
I am really enjoying my new assignment here in Port St. Lucie. Elder Engemann is an amazing missionary and is not limited in doing the work by only having been out for one transfer. He is a hard worker and has a strong testimony. I am happy to be serving with him!
We taught 35 other lessons together this week, most of them sitting down in the person's home and beginning and ending with a prayer. We also were blessed with 7 new investigators. Some of the lessons were lessons we taught at the door step but each one was a great experience for us and we felt the spirit teaching through us. As quoted from Preach my Gospel in general conference, (paraphrasing) "We are successful and know the Lord is pleased when we feel the spirit working through us." I am grateful for that knowledge and the blessing of the Holy Ghost speaking through my companion and me. This area has proven really good for tracting -- lots of positive people who will listen to us.
One focus we have this week is helping the ward get involved in the missionary work here. They are really nice members, they just need some ideas as to how to go about doing the work. Thankfully I have been in some amazing wards where member referrals are the source of most of the baptisms (like Viera), so I can apply what I have learned from previous areas and with the Lord's help we will have success in working with the members here. I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of the nice members here on Sunday: Brother H., who gave us a ride to and from church in his large RV, The H. family who had us into their home while we were in their area last night and then gave us and our bikes a ride home after we finished tracting so we wouldn't get rained on, and the L. family who makes up over half the ward choir. I took the opportunity to jump right into the ward as I have in past areas by singing with the choir for sacrament meeting yesterday. It was our ward conference and we sang an arrangement of "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and another sacrament hymn. Music has been a great missionary opportunity for me!
Before I forget here is my new apartment address:
Elder Ryan J.J. Miller
231 SW Palm Drive #102
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
[I left this in -- It's Elder Miller's very last missionary address, so write away!!! He is scheduled to come home on August 11th. We'll be letting friends know where exactly he'll be coming "home" to, soon. We hope to have "homecoming talks" in both California and Florida.]
Another cool experience we had this week was doing service for Christie. She is in her 20's and needed help with weeding, mulching, and planting flowers in her garden. We brought the other Elders with us to help (Elders Bennett and Stolle) and we had a lot of fun. Christie also came to Church this weekend and she said she enjoyed it. We are meeting with her again on Tuesday and hopefully she will come to Church again this coming Sunday!
Thank you for your letters I received this past week. I appreciate the love and prayers you constantly bless me with. I look forward to hearing from all of you again soon. I love you.
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, April 5, 2010
Shuttle Launch Pictures April 5, 2010
(Left to Right): Brother S., Sister N., Brother N., and Elder Miller
Elder Miller and Elder Devine. If you look really close you can see the Shuttle inbetween us, 5 miles off in the distance.
The beautiful after effect of the Shuttle's smoke trail being caught in the sunrise.
Bright and Early Good Morning to you! April 5, 2010
Good Morning from Melbourne (for the last time),
My Easter went very well. I sincerely enjoyed the talks given by all the general authorities throughout the 5 sessions and I received a lot of answers to prayers that I have been seeking. I love general conference and I feel that I made the most out of my last opportunity to watch general conference as a duly ordained minister of the gospel. I am grateful for the notes and revelation I have been instructed to write down and for my strengthened testimony. As I sat there listening to these men speak, I reflected on my own knowledge that they are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators of God. The spirit bore powerful witness to me through feelings that can only come from God, that these men are God's Prophets and Apostles on the earth today and that they are righteously leading His Church. I am thankful for this most recent witness of truth and I committed myself in writing to continually live faithful to my knowledge of the gospel.
Transfer calls were on Saturday morning and I have been assigned to Stuart North to finish my missionary work there. I am really looking forward to serving there with the great missionaries and the ward there. My new companion is Elder Engeman and he really is a new companion. He has been out for six weeks in the field and his companion last transfer who was also fairly new went home. So I will be doing some follow-up training with him for 6 weeks and then for my last two transfers I will be training a new missionary. My it will be different going from a four man apartment where three of us have been out for 20 months to a four man apartment where the other three have been out for less than 6 months. I am excited to serve there with these missionaries and I hope to regain some of my own strength through their contagious Greenie fire! Don't get me wrong, I haven't lost any of my missionary zeal, but there is just something special about a new missionary in the field who is excited, ready to do the work, and has no preconceived notions about about how much can be accomplished with the Lord's help. I will be going down to Stuart tomorrow morning, so today I will be saying goodbye, at least temporarily, to the great families of the Viera area.
Mom, and Reece, to answer your question: I did see the launch this morning!!! (We had to get up at 3:00AM and this time we made sure the ringer volume was on! :) I didn't want to say anything ahead of time because of what happened last launch, but the Lord really blessed me with a second opportunity to see the last night launch of all the shuttles. What's even more exciting, is Brother N, our ward mission leader, was kind enough to take Elder Devine and I to the same observation sight that I had previously had the opportunity to attend. He took us to what they call the NASA Causeway with his special pass, which is practically the closest the general public can get to a launch (about 5 miles out). I took some great pictures and video and will try to send some to you after my e-mail. I am glad to got to see it to on your way back this morning, Reece and Mom! It will be fun for all of you to see on my camera what it looks like up close! Mom, I hope your library job is continuing to go well for you. And I think I will be fine on money for a while. I will keep you posted, though. Reece, I hope you had an awesome, fun, safe trip and I look forward to hearing all about it soon. :)
Dad, I am so happy for you receiving this new calling! [Early morning Seminary Teacher!] I have had the opportunity to teach seminary recently and I have realized the profound effect that it has on young teens throughout the Church. I am now even more grateful to my seminary teachers who used the time, energy, and sacrifices it took to help me and my peers gain a testimony of the gospel through our own experience. Much of what was said in general conference directly applies to you with your new calling and it also prepared the way for me to receive some precious personal revelation in regards to my own future calling of helping the rising generation in the way the Lord directs me to. During general conference, I also heard general authorities say how much they appreciated and learned from their parents' advice, and I feel the same way about you and Mom. Thank you for all you have taught me and will continue to teach me throughout my life.
Remi, Thank you for the time you take out of your fun time to write me letters while I am on my mission. I look forward to doing the same thing for you in the future. Your a great brother! I actually haven't felt the heat like you have yet, its been perfect weather for me lately (high 70's with sunshine)! But I am sure I will feel it when summer comes. Have an awesome week with our cousin, Zack, and tell Zack and Aunt Wanda that I said hello!
I feel empowered after these recent sessions of General conference and I feel a new sense of excitement for the work! I sense that we are close to reaching the next level of the Florida Orlando Mission! I look forward to helping the Stuart North area for the remainder of my mission. I will do my best to help them progress in their missionary work and help those who are at church already receive a baptismal date. I will really miss the great people of Viera. I didn't have to grow to love the people here, it just came immediately with the love and support they had for me and for the work. I look forward to coming back to Viera in the near future for upcoming baptisms. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served in two zones as a zone leader. I feel that I did my best in helping the missionaries increase their missionary efforts and work their hardest to help the Lord's children come unto Him. I am grateful for the opportunities that I had to serve with the wonderful Elders and Sisters in our mission leadership and I hope to continue these friendships over the years. It has been a pleasure serving with President Darrington and attending many powerful leadership meetings under his direction. I have learned a lot that I will apply not only to my missionary work now, but also to my future career and family life. Now that I have been released as a zone leader I will finish my mission serving as a trainer, which calling I am very happy to accept! I appreciate all that each of you do as my family to love and support me in my service here as a full-time missionary. I look forward to hearing about your final months of school, progression and experiences in your callings, and your summer plans. Have a great Monday and a wonderful week!
Love,
Your son and brother,
Elder Miller
My Easter went very well. I sincerely enjoyed the talks given by all the general authorities throughout the 5 sessions and I received a lot of answers to prayers that I have been seeking. I love general conference and I feel that I made the most out of my last opportunity to watch general conference as a duly ordained minister of the gospel. I am grateful for the notes and revelation I have been instructed to write down and for my strengthened testimony. As I sat there listening to these men speak, I reflected on my own knowledge that they are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators of God. The spirit bore powerful witness to me through feelings that can only come from God, that these men are God's Prophets and Apostles on the earth today and that they are righteously leading His Church. I am thankful for this most recent witness of truth and I committed myself in writing to continually live faithful to my knowledge of the gospel.
Transfer calls were on Saturday morning and I have been assigned to Stuart North to finish my missionary work there. I am really looking forward to serving there with the great missionaries and the ward there. My new companion is Elder Engeman and he really is a new companion. He has been out for six weeks in the field and his companion last transfer who was also fairly new went home. So I will be doing some follow-up training with him for 6 weeks and then for my last two transfers I will be training a new missionary. My it will be different going from a four man apartment where three of us have been out for 20 months to a four man apartment where the other three have been out for less than 6 months. I am excited to serve there with these missionaries and I hope to regain some of my own strength through their contagious Greenie fire! Don't get me wrong, I haven't lost any of my missionary zeal, but there is just something special about a new missionary in the field who is excited, ready to do the work, and has no preconceived notions about about how much can be accomplished with the Lord's help. I will be going down to Stuart tomorrow morning, so today I will be saying goodbye, at least temporarily, to the great families of the Viera area.
Mom, and Reece, to answer your question: I did see the launch this morning!!! (We had to get up at 3:00AM and this time we made sure the ringer volume was on! :) I didn't want to say anything ahead of time because of what happened last launch, but the Lord really blessed me with a second opportunity to see the last night launch of all the shuttles. What's even more exciting, is Brother N, our ward mission leader, was kind enough to take Elder Devine and I to the same observation sight that I had previously had the opportunity to attend. He took us to what they call the NASA Causeway with his special pass, which is practically the closest the general public can get to a launch (about 5 miles out). I took some great pictures and video and will try to send some to you after my e-mail. I am glad to got to see it to on your way back this morning, Reece and Mom! It will be fun for all of you to see on my camera what it looks like up close! Mom, I hope your library job is continuing to go well for you. And I think I will be fine on money for a while. I will keep you posted, though. Reece, I hope you had an awesome, fun, safe trip and I look forward to hearing all about it soon. :)
Dad, I am so happy for you receiving this new calling! [Early morning Seminary Teacher!] I have had the opportunity to teach seminary recently and I have realized the profound effect that it has on young teens throughout the Church. I am now even more grateful to my seminary teachers who used the time, energy, and sacrifices it took to help me and my peers gain a testimony of the gospel through our own experience. Much of what was said in general conference directly applies to you with your new calling and it also prepared the way for me to receive some precious personal revelation in regards to my own future calling of helping the rising generation in the way the Lord directs me to. During general conference, I also heard general authorities say how much they appreciated and learned from their parents' advice, and I feel the same way about you and Mom. Thank you for all you have taught me and will continue to teach me throughout my life.
Remi, Thank you for the time you take out of your fun time to write me letters while I am on my mission. I look forward to doing the same thing for you in the future. Your a great brother! I actually haven't felt the heat like you have yet, its been perfect weather for me lately (high 70's with sunshine)! But I am sure I will feel it when summer comes. Have an awesome week with our cousin, Zack, and tell Zack and Aunt Wanda that I said hello!
I feel empowered after these recent sessions of General conference and I feel a new sense of excitement for the work! I sense that we are close to reaching the next level of the Florida Orlando Mission! I look forward to helping the Stuart North area for the remainder of my mission. I will do my best to help them progress in their missionary work and help those who are at church already receive a baptismal date. I will really miss the great people of Viera. I didn't have to grow to love the people here, it just came immediately with the love and support they had for me and for the work. I look forward to coming back to Viera in the near future for upcoming baptisms. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served in two zones as a zone leader. I feel that I did my best in helping the missionaries increase their missionary efforts and work their hardest to help the Lord's children come unto Him. I am grateful for the opportunities that I had to serve with the wonderful Elders and Sisters in our mission leadership and I hope to continue these friendships over the years. It has been a pleasure serving with President Darrington and attending many powerful leadership meetings under his direction. I have learned a lot that I will apply not only to my missionary work now, but also to my future career and family life. Now that I have been released as a zone leader I will finish my mission serving as a trainer, which calling I am very happy to accept! I appreciate all that each of you do as my family to love and support me in my service here as a full-time missionary. I look forward to hearing about your final months of school, progression and experiences in your callings, and your summer plans. Have a great Monday and a wonderful week!
Love,
Your son and brother,
Elder Miller
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