Dear Family,
It was really nice to hear from you all this week. Mom, I also appreciated the message from Dr. (Brother) Watkins. I am very excited to play with Sound Alliance again! And Dr. Watkins is an amazing professor who really cares about the students. I am very appreciative of all that he and Brother Holman have done for me and for the music program at BYU-Idaho. My mission has been a huge blessing in my life and I know that the principles and attributes that I have learned on my mission such as diligence, hard work, and sacrifice, will greatly enhance my enjoyment and performance in the music program there. I also look forward to hopefully participating in the big trip that Sound Alliance makes every four years, possibly even one overseas! If you have the opportunity, please tell them that I said thank you for all they do and that I look forward to seeing them again in the fall.
I am glad your new calling is going so well and I know the Lord knew what He was doing when he chose you to work with the young women. You finally get to have daughters!
Karolyn and Jonathon accepted a baptismal date for May 29th! We are very excited for them. And I am happy that Elder Engemann will be able to attend the baptism since he is staying now. During the transfer calls I was under the impression that Elder Engemann would be transferred because I remember President talking with me two interviews ago about training my last two transfers. But when the transfer texts started coming and our apartment hadn't received a call yet I realized that maybe the Lord had other plans for the new missionaries coming in from the MTC. I hope there is a way that I might train my last transfer instead, because I really enjoy that responsibility as a missionary! Although I am a little sad about not training this transfer I am happy to be with Elder Engemann and I know we will have a successful transfer together!
Dad, thank you for your compliments. I will definitely finish out strong with my last two transfers. Remi, I enjoyed hearing about your adventures with your friend Aaron. I hope you have a fun summer!
On Friday we got to attend the baptism of Johnny, a 19 year old young man whom the Stuart Zone Leaders have been teaching and it was a really good experience. I have had the opportunity to speak with Johnny over the past few weeks at Church and I know this step is the best thing for him in his life. I am happy that I was able to be there to support him in his righteous decision. His foster parents were there, too, and it was a great experience for them to see Johnny's baptism as well. Hopefully they felt the Spirit and will want to make that same step in there lives.
Sunday was a special Sunday for me because I had the opportunity to bless the sacrament with Brother P. As missionaries we do not want to interfere with Priesthood responsibility of the men in the ward, but when I am called upon to serve in the Priesthood I do not hesitate. I realized that it has been over two years since I blessed the sacrament but the words flowed out of my mouth just like I remember they used to when I was a Priest in the Visalia 6th ward. I thought about the importance of the sacrament and what the emblems we were blessing (the bread and the water) signified. I feel very blessed to help others receive that sacred ordinance of the Sacrament.
Reece, today Elder Bennett and I are going golfing with a member from his ward (the FT. Pierce ward). This will be my first time so it should be interesting! It's too bad I didn't know earlier or I could have asked you for some pointers. I am sure I will learn as I go, haha. Congratulations on winning first place in the drafting competition! That is really something! It sounds like you have a potential career on your hands.
The work is going well here and we look forward to contributing to the 100 baptisms in May. I know that the Lord is with us and He will help us accomplish our goals. I look forward to a great May and a strong finish to President Darrington's service as President in this mission. I really appreciate all you do for me as my family and I love each of you very much! Have an amazing week!
Love,
Elder Miller
Saturday, May 22, 2010
It was great talking to you Sunday! May 10, 2010
Hello my favorite family ever!
It was really good to talk with all of you. I enjoyed hearing your voices a lot! Reece and Remi- your voices have changed a lot and I am sure you have changed physically and spiritually as well. It will be exciting to see in August how much you have grown up over the past two years. When you were both really little I always used to wonder what you would look like when you had grown up. I didn't think I would see you change very much over the years but being gone for two years gives me a different perspective! During our conversation as a family I felt kind of dazed because I realized that this was our last phone call before we meet again in person. I can't believe how fast this time goes by and since I can't seem to slow it down I need to continue to, "go all out, pedal-to-the-medal, and full-boar," as President Darrington says, to make the most of my mission.
Speaking of President, he will be attending a Priesthood Leadership Conference in Lakeland! on May 15 from 9 am to 1 pm with several General and Area Authorities. Cool huh? I wonder if you'll see him at all when he comes to the Lakeland area? Have you called him yet to set up the meeting?
Our mission has been doing really well with all the extra help from the Lord. Here are the recent statistics for the mission after president's charge that I shared with you last week (fasting and praying with faith for the Lord to work miracles in our areas):
Lessons with Member Present, 289 up 37 from last week!
Investigators at Sacrament meeting, 167 up 61!!!!
Investigator’s with a Date, 104 up 42!!!
Investigator’s Progressing with a Date, 64 up 36!!!!
Member Referrals, 51.
I also wanted you share with President's quote for this week:
CHARGE
“You young missionaries came out here to change the world, to change lives, but there is a cost. It costs everything that you have on the altar of sacrifice──your fears, your pride, your laziness, your disobedience, your weaknesses; we cannot hold anything back. When you came to the mission field you burned the bridges behind you, you burned the ships in the harbor. There is no retreat to your former life. You cannot have one foot at home and one foot in the mission field. That is a certain formula for frustration. The Lord demands our whole soul on the sacrificial altar. That is the price we must pay, and when we do, we then become instruments in the hands of God.
“What is a consecrated missionary? It is a missionary who is willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice and to hold nothing back. It is the willingness to give every ounce of energy, every conscious thought, and every drop of passion to this work──to submit our will to God’s will whatever it may be.” (“Becoming a Consecrated Missionary,” Elder Tad R. Callister, MTC, October 7, 2008)
With Great Love, President Darrington
“One Lord, One Faith, 100 Baptisms!”
I love this quote a lot! This is exactly how I want to be as a missionary as I mentioned earlier. I love missionary work and I as so grateful that I still have 3 months to serve the Lord full-time as one of His representatives.
I have a few questions for you before I tell you about my week: About our apartments for college: I think Rockland would be fine again. I will email Elder Henz. Will you talk with the Owens to see about Andy rooming with us. He told me he would want to in his last letter and I have already replied but I probably won't get another letter from him for a while (snail mail). Thank you for your help. And by the way, can we have a homecoming party for me at the house sometime in August when I get home? It could be a fun way to get to know some of the people I have never met in Lakeland. :)
Elder Engemann and I will definitely continue to pray with faith for the Lord to work miracles in our missionary efforts. We have seen some of His miracles this week as we have been helping Karolyn and her family learn about the gospel, come to church, and be fellowshipped by the families in the ward. Everything is going really well for her and we have invited her with the Lord's invitation for baptism. She accepted, but said that she didn't feel ready yet. Of course that's what our responsibility is as missionaries for Jesus Christ: to help God's children prepare towards baptism so they can be ready. I know their family will be baptized soon- hopefully in the month of May. Other than Karolyn and her sons, we have four investigators with a baptismal date right now- Larry and Darlena, and Chalonde and Nelson. We met with Chalonde and Nelson on Sunday right after we talked on the phone. We had a really good visit with them and Chalonde had read all of the chapter we had left with her (3 Nephi 11). They hadn't prayed yet to know for themselves that it is true so we recommitted them to pray specifically and sincerely. They began doing so in the closing prayer and will be praying everyday until we meet on Friday. We will be setting more dates this week.
Emilio's and Fernando's baptism was so special for me! I felt the spirit so strong when Emilio was baptized because I knew of the desire he had to make that step in his life! I told you what he had said before the service started: "I have been waiting my whole life for this day!" He also told me that he was really happy that I was able to come and that made me feel really good. I will send photos of us at their baptism. Their family was all there and afterwards when we were all talking the other missionaries and I spoke with the other family members about baptism. They said that they would take the lessons and that it was a step they would make in their lives! On top of all that I got to see a lot of my favorite ward members from the Viera ward: the G's, Bishop C., Sister C. and her daughter Maddison, the J's, the B's, the S's, the list goes on but it was such a happy reunion for me! I was just thinking that if I was so happy to see all these wonderful friends and ward family after our brief separation, how happy I will be to see all of you, my immediate family after two years! And how amazing and joyous the reunion will be in Heaven for those who have remained faithful to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! I can only imagine the joy that will come from that reunion.
This week I got permission to call Danny Pool. We had a really good conversation. I had thought that he would be taking out his endowments soon since he was preparing to go on a mission and he was planning on that but in answer to his prayers about serving a mission he explained some of the answers and experiences he had received from the Lord that pointed to not serving a mission at this time. Although he is not planning to serve a full time mission at this time he is still a great missionary. He now rooms with his friend whom he recently shared the gospel with and baptized and confirmed!
My mission is going really well and I am enjoying working hard and serving the Lord. Thank you for your support! I hope you each have a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Miller
It was really good to talk with all of you. I enjoyed hearing your voices a lot! Reece and Remi- your voices have changed a lot and I am sure you have changed physically and spiritually as well. It will be exciting to see in August how much you have grown up over the past two years. When you were both really little I always used to wonder what you would look like when you had grown up. I didn't think I would see you change very much over the years but being gone for two years gives me a different perspective! During our conversation as a family I felt kind of dazed because I realized that this was our last phone call before we meet again in person. I can't believe how fast this time goes by and since I can't seem to slow it down I need to continue to, "go all out, pedal-to-the-medal, and full-boar," as President Darrington says, to make the most of my mission.
Speaking of President, he will be attending a Priesthood Leadership Conference in Lakeland! on May 15 from 9 am to 1 pm with several General and Area Authorities. Cool huh? I wonder if you'll see him at all when he comes to the Lakeland area? Have you called him yet to set up the meeting?
Our mission has been doing really well with all the extra help from the Lord. Here are the recent statistics for the mission after president's charge that I shared with you last week (fasting and praying with faith for the Lord to work miracles in our areas):
Lessons with Member Present, 289 up 37 from last week!
Investigators at Sacrament meeting, 167 up 61!!!!
Investigator’s with a Date, 104 up 42!!!
Investigator’s Progressing with a Date, 64 up 36!!!!
Member Referrals, 51.
I also wanted you share with President's quote for this week:
CHARGE
“You young missionaries came out here to change the world, to change lives, but there is a cost. It costs everything that you have on the altar of sacrifice──your fears, your pride, your laziness, your disobedience, your weaknesses; we cannot hold anything back. When you came to the mission field you burned the bridges behind you, you burned the ships in the harbor. There is no retreat to your former life. You cannot have one foot at home and one foot in the mission field. That is a certain formula for frustration. The Lord demands our whole soul on the sacrificial altar. That is the price we must pay, and when we do, we then become instruments in the hands of God.
“What is a consecrated missionary? It is a missionary who is willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice and to hold nothing back. It is the willingness to give every ounce of energy, every conscious thought, and every drop of passion to this work──to submit our will to God’s will whatever it may be.” (“Becoming a Consecrated Missionary,” Elder Tad R. Callister, MTC, October 7, 2008)
With Great Love, President Darrington
“One Lord, One Faith, 100 Baptisms!”
I love this quote a lot! This is exactly how I want to be as a missionary as I mentioned earlier. I love missionary work and I as so grateful that I still have 3 months to serve the Lord full-time as one of His representatives.
I have a few questions for you before I tell you about my week: About our apartments for college: I think Rockland would be fine again. I will email Elder Henz. Will you talk with the Owens to see about Andy rooming with us. He told me he would want to in his last letter and I have already replied but I probably won't get another letter from him for a while (snail mail). Thank you for your help. And by the way, can we have a homecoming party for me at the house sometime in August when I get home? It could be a fun way to get to know some of the people I have never met in Lakeland. :)
Elder Engemann and I will definitely continue to pray with faith for the Lord to work miracles in our missionary efforts. We have seen some of His miracles this week as we have been helping Karolyn and her family learn about the gospel, come to church, and be fellowshipped by the families in the ward. Everything is going really well for her and we have invited her with the Lord's invitation for baptism. She accepted, but said that she didn't feel ready yet. Of course that's what our responsibility is as missionaries for Jesus Christ: to help God's children prepare towards baptism so they can be ready. I know their family will be baptized soon- hopefully in the month of May. Other than Karolyn and her sons, we have four investigators with a baptismal date right now- Larry and Darlena, and Chalonde and Nelson. We met with Chalonde and Nelson on Sunday right after we talked on the phone. We had a really good visit with them and Chalonde had read all of the chapter we had left with her (3 Nephi 11). They hadn't prayed yet to know for themselves that it is true so we recommitted them to pray specifically and sincerely. They began doing so in the closing prayer and will be praying everyday until we meet on Friday. We will be setting more dates this week.
Emilio's and Fernando's baptism was so special for me! I felt the spirit so strong when Emilio was baptized because I knew of the desire he had to make that step in his life! I told you what he had said before the service started: "I have been waiting my whole life for this day!" He also told me that he was really happy that I was able to come and that made me feel really good. I will send photos of us at their baptism. Their family was all there and afterwards when we were all talking the other missionaries and I spoke with the other family members about baptism. They said that they would take the lessons and that it was a step they would make in their lives! On top of all that I got to see a lot of my favorite ward members from the Viera ward: the G's, Bishop C., Sister C. and her daughter Maddison, the J's, the B's, the S's, the list goes on but it was such a happy reunion for me! I was just thinking that if I was so happy to see all these wonderful friends and ward family after our brief separation, how happy I will be to see all of you, my immediate family after two years! And how amazing and joyous the reunion will be in Heaven for those who have remained faithful to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! I can only imagine the joy that will come from that reunion.
This week I got permission to call Danny Pool. We had a really good conversation. I had thought that he would be taking out his endowments soon since he was preparing to go on a mission and he was planning on that but in answer to his prayers about serving a mission he explained some of the answers and experiences he had received from the Lord that pointed to not serving a mission at this time. Although he is not planning to serve a full time mission at this time he is still a great missionary. He now rooms with his friend whom he recently shared the gospel with and baptized and confirmed!
My mission is going really well and I am enjoying working hard and serving the Lord. Thank you for your support! I hope you each have a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, May 3, 2010
Happy Early Mothers Day Mom!! I love you! May 3
Dear Family:
I really appreciated your letters, thank you! I'm sorry I haven't sent mine yet. It's because I am also sending a package and it is talking me a while to put it together. I will send it this week. :) Thank you for your advice and telling me about your weeks.
In regards to college stuff: I have heard of Sunrise Village but I am not sure what they are like. I did love having a pool and game room at Rockland, especially since the pool was heated in the winter! We used it all the time. But I wonder what the new apartments have.
I will make sure to answer all of your questions throughout my email. My week was an amazing one!
At the beginning of this week President Darrington gave us this charge as our mission president and from the guidance and direction that he receives from the Lord in our behalf:
"We need some miracles in this mission. We have twenty more missionaries than a year ago. We just had the lowest month since January 2009 when 27 were baptized! In April we baptized 33. We are thankful for those who received this ordinance.
Elders and Sisters, we need to exercise our faith! We need to get down on our knees in mighty prayer and ask the Lord to help us in this work! Mormon said, "Behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles...
"And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God miracles." (Mormon 9:11, 18-19)
Let's work some miracles in this mission!
Love, President Darrington
"One Lord, one faith, 100 baptisms!"
Elder Engemann and I accepted this charge and made it our own as we knelt in sincere and humble prayer, asking The Father for help on our behalf and on behalf of the entire mission to work some mighty miracles. As we did that this week with faith that we would succeed the Lord blessed us with an amazing week and we definitely saw miracles wrought by His hand! This week we set two new baptismal dates for this month and also had a new family at church. Karolyn and Jonathon came for their first time and really enjoyed it. Everything went as well as could possibly be expected: the testimonies were inspiring, the gospel principles class was friendly and engaging, the Relief Society really welcomed Karolyn as a visitor, and Jonathon fit right in with the Deacons in the ward. Karolyn said that it was an answer to her prayers! They have now met their fellowship family and we will be going to their home with Brother Mejia and his son on Tuesday to teach more of the lessons and invite them to be baptized into Christ's true church. I know the Lord does work miracles and He will continue to do so in this mission as we show Him our faith and diligence in carrying out His work.
On Tuesday we were finishing tracting a very long street and we saw a man about our age walking towards us on the opposite side of the street. Elder Engemann and I, in our efforts to contact everyone we see, walked to the other side of the street and introduced ourselves. His name is Nick and we had a good feeling about him. The Spirit also showed me that Nick was very open and willing to listen. I felt the spirit speak through me to tell Nick about our purpose as missionaries in helping people come closer to Christ and be baptized by His authority. Nick said that he would like to hear our message so we walked with him to his house. We went with him in his nice air conditioned home and shared the message of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. While introducing the lesson I explained that we would invite him with the Lord's invitation to be baptized at the end of the lesson. While we shared Joseph smith's experience Elder Engemann and I could really tell that he felt the spirit because we could see his countenance light up. We invited him to be baptized on May 22nd and he happily accepted. I look forward to helping Nick make this special step in his life. We also invited Tiffany to actually pray specifically about the Book of Mormon being true and Joseph being a prophet since she had only been praying in general so far. We also we very bold with her and explained the importance of being baptized into Christ's true Church and not a church of man. She accepted the Lord's invitation for the 15th of May and when we called her the next day she said that she had prayed specifically and felt good about it. I am so grateful for the guidance of the Lord through His Holy Spirit and for being able to invite His children to be baptized as a representative of Him!
These experiences mentioned above were definitely the best of my week. The "worst" part of my week was actually a good thing because it gave me a sense of really laboring with all my might in the Lord's vineyard. Yesterday, after a great fast Sunday at Church, a short nap, and a meal to break my fast, we ventured off on our bikes for the 5 mile ride to our area plus the many more miles to our appointments. I'll be honest, it was definitely the hottest that it has been this whole year [90]and the humidity was very high, too. Although it was hot and the wind was blowing hard against us, I felt determined to pedal even harder. We made it to our appointments but neither one answered the door. I feel bad for them because it is their loss. We finished tracting the street for the next few hours (it was a VERY long street) and although we were covered from head to foot in sweat and probably smelled like wet dog, it felt good to be working hard for the Lord to bring souls to him. We talked with some very nice people, some who let us in for a minute to get cold water and explain our message. On the bike ride home in the cool evening air I knew we had worked hard for the Lord and that He will bless us for our efforts. And besides, on the bright side I am happy that I will be in great shape when I get home from all our working out and biking!
On Thursday I get to go to the baptism of Emilio and Fernando G., whom I taught in Viera. I am really excited for them and look forward to their baptism. I pray that as their parents see them make this special step in their lives that they will want to be baptized, too!
I wish you all the best this week as you come closer to the close of the school year and continue in your callings, activities, and jobs. You are in my prayers always and I love each of you. Mom, have a very happy Mothers Day!
Love,
Elder Miller
I really appreciated your letters, thank you! I'm sorry I haven't sent mine yet. It's because I am also sending a package and it is talking me a while to put it together. I will send it this week. :) Thank you for your advice and telling me about your weeks.
In regards to college stuff: I have heard of Sunrise Village but I am not sure what they are like. I did love having a pool and game room at Rockland, especially since the pool was heated in the winter! We used it all the time. But I wonder what the new apartments have.
I will make sure to answer all of your questions throughout my email. My week was an amazing one!
At the beginning of this week President Darrington gave us this charge as our mission president and from the guidance and direction that he receives from the Lord in our behalf:
"We need some miracles in this mission. We have twenty more missionaries than a year ago. We just had the lowest month since January 2009 when 27 were baptized! In April we baptized 33. We are thankful for those who received this ordinance.
Elders and Sisters, we need to exercise our faith! We need to get down on our knees in mighty prayer and ask the Lord to help us in this work! Mormon said, "Behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles...
"And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God miracles." (Mormon 9:11, 18-19)
Let's work some miracles in this mission!
Love, President Darrington
"One Lord, one faith, 100 baptisms!"
Elder Engemann and I accepted this charge and made it our own as we knelt in sincere and humble prayer, asking The Father for help on our behalf and on behalf of the entire mission to work some mighty miracles. As we did that this week with faith that we would succeed the Lord blessed us with an amazing week and we definitely saw miracles wrought by His hand! This week we set two new baptismal dates for this month and also had a new family at church. Karolyn and Jonathon came for their first time and really enjoyed it. Everything went as well as could possibly be expected: the testimonies were inspiring, the gospel principles class was friendly and engaging, the Relief Society really welcomed Karolyn as a visitor, and Jonathon fit right in with the Deacons in the ward. Karolyn said that it was an answer to her prayers! They have now met their fellowship family and we will be going to their home with Brother Mejia and his son on Tuesday to teach more of the lessons and invite them to be baptized into Christ's true church. I know the Lord does work miracles and He will continue to do so in this mission as we show Him our faith and diligence in carrying out His work.
On Tuesday we were finishing tracting a very long street and we saw a man about our age walking towards us on the opposite side of the street. Elder Engemann and I, in our efforts to contact everyone we see, walked to the other side of the street and introduced ourselves. His name is Nick and we had a good feeling about him. The Spirit also showed me that Nick was very open and willing to listen. I felt the spirit speak through me to tell Nick about our purpose as missionaries in helping people come closer to Christ and be baptized by His authority. Nick said that he would like to hear our message so we walked with him to his house. We went with him in his nice air conditioned home and shared the message of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. While introducing the lesson I explained that we would invite him with the Lord's invitation to be baptized at the end of the lesson. While we shared Joseph smith's experience Elder Engemann and I could really tell that he felt the spirit because we could see his countenance light up. We invited him to be baptized on May 22nd and he happily accepted. I look forward to helping Nick make this special step in his life. We also invited Tiffany to actually pray specifically about the Book of Mormon being true and Joseph being a prophet since she had only been praying in general so far. We also we very bold with her and explained the importance of being baptized into Christ's true Church and not a church of man. She accepted the Lord's invitation for the 15th of May and when we called her the next day she said that she had prayed specifically and felt good about it. I am so grateful for the guidance of the Lord through His Holy Spirit and for being able to invite His children to be baptized as a representative of Him!
These experiences mentioned above were definitely the best of my week. The "worst" part of my week was actually a good thing because it gave me a sense of really laboring with all my might in the Lord's vineyard. Yesterday, after a great fast Sunday at Church, a short nap, and a meal to break my fast, we ventured off on our bikes for the 5 mile ride to our area plus the many more miles to our appointments. I'll be honest, it was definitely the hottest that it has been this whole year [90]and the humidity was very high, too. Although it was hot and the wind was blowing hard against us, I felt determined to pedal even harder. We made it to our appointments but neither one answered the door. I feel bad for them because it is their loss. We finished tracting the street for the next few hours (it was a VERY long street) and although we were covered from head to foot in sweat and probably smelled like wet dog, it felt good to be working hard for the Lord to bring souls to him. We talked with some very nice people, some who let us in for a minute to get cold water and explain our message. On the bike ride home in the cool evening air I knew we had worked hard for the Lord and that He will bless us for our efforts. And besides, on the bright side I am happy that I will be in great shape when I get home from all our working out and biking!
On Thursday I get to go to the baptism of Emilio and Fernando G., whom I taught in Viera. I am really excited for them and look forward to their baptism. I pray that as their parents see them make this special step in their lives that they will want to be baptized, too!
I wish you all the best this week as you come closer to the close of the school year and continue in your callings, activities, and jobs. You are in my prayers always and I love each of you. Mom, have a very happy Mothers Day!
Love,
Elder Miller
Monday, April 26, 2010
From Elder Miller April 26, 2010
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
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
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.
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