August 31, 2009

Hey Hey,

I am very pleased with the new living arangements. We even have a weight
bench. I haven't put it to much use, but I hope on doing so, if I stay here
longer I definately will. It is actually not a member that we live with.
It is just a normal person that was renting the top of there house
apparently. The missionaries have been living there for quite some time.
Kind of makes you wonder why she hasn't been taught much. But it is not our
area, so not in my jurisdiction. Oh well.

I will find out the exact missionaires that are in Babylon and see what I
can find out, see how he goes.

Uh, no picture with Elder Pace, that would have been kind of weird to ask.
As for writing it in my journal, I will be sure to get on that. . . .
.Whoops.

That would be pretty funny if you could get Adams to come out to New York.
But we will talk next year, maybe at Christmas. It would be cool if you
came out, because I would like to make a trip up to Palmyra. That would be
a pretty sick way to end my mission. We could even do that if I wasn't
realeased, I'd just have to wear a tie and a name tag.

This week was pretty slow again. A bunch of our investigators were out of
town, so we couldn't meet with them. We knocked a lot of doors, not much
luck. We had a couple encounters with bashers. They were fun. Apparently
I'm not Christian, I believe in a 2nd Jesus, I'm just a "silly mormon kid",
and Jesus is the 2nd Adam. Strange. I like being in the true church (or as
some people like to call us, cult).

I think I will attach two pictures. One of my ties, because ties are cool.
Another, a funny one takin of me in the pad. Sometimes I do strange things.
Anyways.

Ok, as for my assignments.

1. Haven't yet, I will. Sorry.
2. I will. Sorry.
3. I think I'm pretty good. I will get exact counts for you. I will send
the box soon. Sorry.
4. Besides test strips, I need investigators with a Baptismal Date, could
you send me some of those? :) But I do need the garments I asked about.
Thank you.
5. Thank you.
6. I won't.
7. Thank you.

About driving safe, our cars have what are called "Black Boxes". Basically,
if you speed, it beeps at you. If you turn hard, it beeps at you. If you
hit a bump, it beeps at you. If you don't wear your seat belt, it beeps at
you. And after all of that, the information is sent to Salt Lake, so they
know everything. Bye Bye my agency. Well, I still have it, but I get
beeped at when I use it wrong. A black box in life might be nice, getting
the celestial kingdom would be easier, because that beeping is freaking
annoying. Plus, my comp usually drives. He's old and likes it.

Well, I think that is it. I love you all.

-Elder Miller

PS, oh yeah, I had to speak on sunday, but thanks to Elder Burk, it was
about 2 minutes. It went well. Elder Goodman's, went well. Elder
Hatch's, went well. Elder Burk's, kinda long and boring, not to be
judgemental. But come on, I had to translate it.

I love you all, again.

August 24, 2009

Hey,

Yes, I do know my exact release date. It is August 18th. Obviously we will
talk about things in like a year, but whatever you want is ok with me,
picking me up or not. The one downside of picking me up is I would not be
released, so I would have to continue living the mission rules, no TV and no
swimming, among the others, haha, so that would be kind of weird, and I'd
have to wear my tie and name tag everywhere we went, but yeah, whatever you
guys want, and we will talk about it in a few months.

It is not farm lands, just kind of normal, I guess it would be kind of like
a city more crowded than Layton. It is still just a normal city, but busier
than Layton. I did meet the member from Layton. She said she grew up down
my Gentile. I didn't catch her maiden name, but she grew up in Layton, and
is now living in New York with her husband and like 9 million kids. They
are a stereotypical mormon family. He is in the district presidency.

That is pretty upsetting about the missionaries and Jon's Friend. I hope it
all works out. It is sad to think that people would do something like that.


Elder Pace was excellent. He gave us some really awesome talks and talked
about some really awesome things that you don't hear much about. Also one
other funny thing happened. We have a little lunch at our Zone Conferences,
and I sat down and was talking to some of my friends, and President Nelson
came and sat by us, along with Elder Pace. Elder Pace actually sat right
next to me. It was kind of strange, but we had some really cool
conversations. He is a really cool man.

The work and teaching are coming along slowly but surely. My companion has
been really upset on the situations that we came into, being blinded in and
all, and the pool used to be the ZL's pool, which should be an example pool,
and we came in to virtually nothing, and so he has been upset about it, and
has talked to President how he is struggling with it, since he is the
District leader,and it shoudl be an example pool, and it was left horribly
to us, but we are working hard to change that.

I have not got ahold of Brenda, I am getting kind of frustrated with it, and
am about to give up. I have called several times, and she has called back
once, which I missed because I was in the bathroom, and I called back right
when I got out and she didn't answer or call back. So I don't know. What
is the exact reasons why I need to meet with her? Just to work things out
to make sure the pods are working? It's just been very frustrating. I
think I have 3 tubes of strips, I honestly am not sure on insulin, I will
let you know next week.

Let me know when the money is in my account. That money I had just saved
up, saving money from month to month I didn't spend. If you eat really
ghetto brand food and nothing to fancy, you can usually carry over a few
dollars to save, just in case you need it. So that's where it came from.

The LIU thing sounds fun. It's lame I missed it. I think I would have
enjoyed it.

That is sad to hear about Lilo. I hope it all works out. It is hard
situation when such things happen, but let me know what happens and what you
decide to do with it.

I think everything is going pretty well for me. Time is going by really
quick this transfer. Oh yeah, I get to go to the temple here in a couple
weeks for my year mark. I am very excited. It is a realyl big group going,
like 30 missionaires. I am very happy. I have missed the temple a lot, so
that will be a great experience.

Well I better get going. I love you all.

-Elder Miller

August 17, 2009

Hey,

Well, it is official. Over the hump. I will actually be home exactly a
week from tomorrow. Haha. Just to make you all excited about seeing me.

Lynbrook is really nice. I am enjoying it a lot. I am pretty used to it
now. I do really miss the city. It's like, you don't go to the New York
New York South mission to come home and tell stories about being in the
Island and driving your car around, you want to tell stories about tracting
in the Ghetto, but I am very excited to have the oppurtunity to try
something new, it really is almost a completely different mission. All of
your work is different. And it is also kind of hard, because we are only
allowed a certain amount of miles to drive each month, so you have to keep
track, and really plan out which areas you are going to work in each day so
you don't drive to much. But it is good. It really teaches you
responsibility.

There are some really good members. Two members of the district presidency
are from the branch, so it is pretty strong. There is a family that lived
in Ogden for a while, so I got to enjoy talking to them about that. I have
heard rumors that a Sister, Sister Malinka grew up in Layton, but that is
just rumors. And she does look kind of familiar. But luckily enough they
invited us over tonight for a Family Home Evening, so I will get to know
them and see if she really is. So the branch is good. Really strong,
really nice people. We had a BBQ last week, a branch one, they just started
doing them, to build some love within the branch and so everyone can get to
know everyone, and it was really good. It was fun getting to talk to
everyone.

I probably wont' have to translate every week. One of the other Spanish
elders , who is in his 4th transfer said he wants to try it every once in a
while, so he can practice, so I am fine with that. There is also a member,
she is about 20, that likes to do it sometimes, she did it yesterday. I
translated up until the Sacrament Prayers, and then she took over. So it
will just have to be a week to week, we'll see who does it thing. Anyways.

In actualy Lynbrook there are 4 missionaries. The area of Lynbrook is split
in half, and we each work half. I really think they should make one
companionship all english, and one all spanish, and have the areas not
split,then you could focus more, but I am not in charge of such things, and
I guess they are the way they are for a reason. :) But so the other two
Elders are Elder Burk and Elder Hatch. Both really young missionaries.

I don't know if I got the shipment, I will see at Zone Conference this week.
Oh yeah, at Zone Conference Elder Pace from the presidency of the 70 is
going to be there, so I am excited for that. But that is when I will get
packages. I haven't got ahold of Brenda, I will be trying a lot today. I
think the Pods are going to work out. The problems aren't horrible, and
with the sticky tag thigns I think that will really help. And pluss it is
coolign down, so I won't have any of these problems until next summer at
all. I will send the box back soon. Sorry for it being so long. Now I do
live where there is a Wal-Mart, so maybe going that route might be better.
And I will figure out the doctor thing at everything.

This week was really good. We had a lot of success, and met some cool
people. We taught our first legit Spanish lesson, to a Dominican family we
found. There really are like not Spanish people in our area, but now we
know of at least one, and they seem pretty interested. We also taught an
awesome lesson to a man who actually is a Free Mason. he was very intrigued
by it, and I think he will be really good.

I am pretty sure that the throwing up was something I ate. I had eaten some
strange things that day, so i know that is why it happened. It is weird to
think that missionaries get sick too, but we do. Haha. It is something I
never really thought about before the mission. Just figured they would all
be fine always. But we are human too.

It sounds like everyone it doing well. I have a couple things you can help
me out with. First off . . . I am in need of new garments. Mine have seen
about the end of it. So that would be awesome if you could get me some and
send me some. It doesn't ahve to be a huge hurry though, just some time.
What I wear is cotton-poly mix, crew neck tops. My tops are Small, normal
length. And then I wear the cotton-poly brief style bottom. Normal length,
32 inch waiste. I would probabaly want about 8 of each. So let me know if
you can do that for me. Thanks.

Thank you for taking care of my line of credit. Also, this week I think I
will be purchasing a new suit, because I am in a need and want of a new one.
It will cost about $100, and I will use my home card, but I will send you
cash to cover it, so you would just have to put it in my account. So if you
could do that for me that would be great. So I will be sending the money
this week, should be there in a few days.

I think other than those things I am doing very well, and all. I need to
get going, but I love you very much, and I will talk to you all next week.

Love,
-Elder Miller

PS, tell everyone sorry i have been slacking on the BoM e-mails, but I will
send one next week, so get everyone to send me an email on where they are
Sunday night.

Love ya!

August 10, 2009

Hey Mom,

Yes I am online right now, but I will just make this my normal e-mail.

Sounds like you had a bit of fun. That would be really cool. I am glad you
all had fun.

I am serving in Lynbrook, which is just barely Island. It actualyl kind of
touches Jamaica, where I just was. It is pretty far away from the Hamptons.
Those are a lot further out. But it is really weird. It will take a while
to get used to. There are like houses and stuff. Guess what I did last
week? I went to a Wal-Mart. It was crazy. It was the first time I have
seen a Wal-Mart in like a year. It was crazy. It is also going to take
some getting used to not having a Metro Card, and having a car. We have a
like 2007 Chevy Malibu. It is pretty nice. It has been weird to drive a
little bit, since I hadn't in about a year. But it is nice. You always
know where your ride is, and no running for the bus.

We live in a house. It is super crazy. No more apartment. But we just
live on the second floor. The bottom is the owner, and they rent out the
top floor to us. It is really nice. It is kind of scary to me. My last
bathroom in Jamaica was nasty and like covered in mold, and the bathroom
here in Lynbrook is all tile and way nice. As nice as our bathrooms back
home. Just everything is nice and clean and fairly new. It is pretty
crazy.

So I went to church yesterday, obviously, and the branch seems really good.
I like it. It has about 100 active members. It is split, it has both
spanish and english. For priesthood there aren't too many Spanish males
that don't know english, so they just kind of go with it, and those that
don't sit by people that know both and they kind of translate for them.
During Sunday school they have two classes, one english and one spanish, and
during Sacrament Meeting they have little headsets, and someone sits in the
back of the room and translates into a little mic-head set thing. Guess who
the person who gets to translate is? Me. Man it was pretty hard.
Translating so much so quick made my brain hurt really bad. There are 4
missionaries assigned to the branch, one being my companion, who is English
speaking, and the other two are Spanish, one in his 2nd Transfer, and one in
his 3rd. So I was the one that got elected to translate. It will be good
for my Spanish though, because there are not very many people that live in
our proselyting area that speak Spanish, so I don't think i will get to use
it a lot.

My companion is pretty good. His name is Elder Goodman. He is 25. So that
is a little weird. But he is cool. I already knew him pretty well, because
when I was in jamaica, he was in Richmond Hill, which are in the same Zone,
so I saw him pretty often and got to know him well.

I have tried a couple times for Brenda, I will keep trying. One of the
hastles is I changed phones, so I think she may have tried the Jamaica
phone, but I will be sure to get ahold of her as soon as I can.

Other than that things are going really well. We came into a not very good
pool, so we have been doing a lot of finding, but we have found some people
that I am very excited for.

Something else exciting happened this week. I threw up for the first time
in my mission. haha. It was really bad. I don't know what it was, but I
thought I was going to die. It was coming out of both ends and I was in so
much pain. But no problems since, so I am happy about that. And you are
welcome for all the details. haha.

Well, i love you so much, and I will talk to you next week.

Love,
-Elder Miller

August 3, 2009

Hey Mom,

The answer to the ASL question is it depends. ASL is obviously American Sign Language, and as Spanish people there is Spanish Sign Language which is very different from ASL. But most people also know another form of sign language that is called International Sign Language, so they can communicate with anyone that is deaf. So there is your answer. I have had the oppurtunity to learn quite a bit of Sign Language on my mission. We have classes with the ASL missionaries every once in a while, so that in case we meet one we can get there information and give it to them.

That very much is a Lamborghini. Pretty sweet. I will be sure to send lots of pictures. I will include some in this email, but I don't know which ones yet, I will talk about them later.

So guess what, tomorrow is transfer meeting. Another one down the ropes. And guess what? I am getting transfered. Crazy Huh? I am going to miss Jamaica a lot. Guess where I am going? A place called Lynbrook, it is out on Long Island. That is about all I know about it. My companion's name is Elder Goodman. Want to know something else kind of weird. I am going to be working in the Spanglish program. Elder Goodman is an English missionary, and in this specific area we work both. So if we meet a spanish person, we teach them, we meet an english person, we teach them. It will be interesting, because when we teach in Spanish I will have to do all the teaching. Or translate what my companion says. It will be weird. It is also a car area, the first time I will drive a car in almost a year. It is also Elder Goodman's first time in a car, and he has been out for like a year and 4 months. It will be interesting getting used to New York drive, let alone getting used to driving period. But I am really excited an nervous. We are getting "blinded in" as the mission lingo is, which means we are both new, going there for the first time, so it will be weird because we don't know the area, the people, anything. I'll get really good at using a map.

Brenda did call me, I missed it becaseu I was in a appointment. I have called her back a couple times and no answer, and have left a few messages. I will continue trying. I have 9 pods left I believe.

Juan is being kind of flakey, but he will be good. Robin from columbia is still doing well. We need to get with him again and see if he is still willing to work forward. But I only have today to do that. haha. I will be on Long Island tomorrow. I am spending my time today packing. It is always no fun.

Last week was pretty good. A lot of really hot weather. I would have to change shirts and g's half way through the day. It was pretty miserable. But oh well. One day there was a crazy Flee Market that covered all of Jamaica Ave, and we went and handed out 100's of pass a long cards. It was pretty fun.

Ok, I have included a picture of me with the Alarcon Family. They are the best. They are the ones that got me the birthday cakes. They are from El Salvador. Hma. Alarcon is the gospel principles teacher. Steven is the young men's president, and is hopefully going on a mission soon. Leda is Young Women's President, and has her mission papers all done and just has to turn them him. She is putting her availability date in January. They are beyond awesome. I am going to miss them so much. They invistigated the church for like 10 years before they joined.

Anways, I better get going. I love you all so much. I will talk to you all next week.

-Elder Miller

July 29, 2009

Hello All,

Yes, my birthday turned out well. Still have a hard time thinking that I am
20. But, hey, one bonus, it is a lot easier to say 20 in Spanish than it is
to say 19. Haha. But yeah, I really enjoyed my Birthday.

So I attatched a picutre. I hope you haven't opened it yet. Before you
open it I want you to remember that I am serving in the Ghetto. So now that
you remember that, this picture was taken right outside my pad, just a few
steps down the street on the corner.

Yep, you got it. That is me standing next to a Lambo. That car is worth
more than my life. And it was just chillin on the street. I thought it
would be a good picture to send. Make you all laugh a little bit.

I got the card, and I got a present from Kadee and Jim. I also got a card
from Aunt Nannie. It was great. Everyone is so nice.

Okay I will wait on the pump situation and see if she contacts me. I
believe I have 12 pods left. I didn't count for sure, but based on last
time. I know I have at least 11.

Let's see, other things in the package. Anything you want would be great.
I think I am pretty good on most things. But anything you think I would
like.

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention something I saw the other day I saw in the
store. It was an at home A1C test. You sucked the blood in, mailed it off,
and they send you back results within 3 days. It cost like $20. Maybe you
could do some research on these and see how well they work. It seemed like
a cool idea. Anyways.

Thank you for helping me out with the test strips.

Weather has been horrible. Yesterday it rained so much, everywhere was
floded. It was really fun to try to run home, even with umbrellas we all
got drenched. But oh well.

Juan is doing pretty well. We had a sad moment the other day with him
though. We went over to visit him and he was very drunk. Enough that his
family had left the apartment. So we will continue working with him and
praying for him.

We knocked into this kid last week. His name in Robin, he is 17 and from
Colombia. He has been here for about 7 years. He listened to a quick
message and we set up a return appointment. When we came back we took a
member with us, Leda Delao. It was an awesome lesson, and he totally felt
the spirit. We have another apointment with him, and are going to see if he
had read the BOM and if he had prayed about it. I am really excited for
him.

Last week i got to have my first interview with Pres. Nelson. it was great.
He is an awesome man, and I think he will do great with this mission.

Well, I better get doing. Until next week. I love you.

-Elder Miller

PS, it was weird to not celebrate Pioneer's Day. Haha.

July 20, 2009

Howdy Hey Hey,

Ok, so here are the updates to the points you really want.

1. How my birthday went.
It started out just kind of normal, not very fun. Just went and did my
normal P-Day stuff. I had to run to the mission office to give an English
Class packet thingy to Sister Heininge (she was in my district in Flushing)
and she had made me a cake and some cookies. That was so cool. Then in the
night we worked, and then we went over to this families house, the best
family ever, Alarcon, and they had got me a cake, and they got me a present,
a Rubik's Cube, haha, they had heard I liked them. Then on Saturday, they
had felt bad for my cake being a last second not fancy one, so they got me
another one. I felt so spoiled. I got them a way cool thank you card
though. But they are so awesome, so I really enjoyed my birthday, I am
including pictures of all my cakes. Haha. I bet I gained so much weight.

2. If I got my presents.
I am not sure all that was sent, but this is what I got. The shoes,
they fit awesome and look great. I am hoping to keep them in good shape and
wear them for mostly special occasiones, like transfer meeting and
interviews with the president. Package with lots of candy and the gifts
from Sandee and Heidee. All was great. You know my food taste so well.
The CD is awesome, and the books are great. I had been reading a copy of
Nuestra Busqueda de la felicidad, so I am really excited to have them and
read them. I haven't recieved the card from Grandpa and Grandma, but we
haven't got mail in a few days, because the store we live above has been
closed. Lame. But thank you so much to all for all the wonderful presents.

3. Supplies.
Yes!, the AP's were actually on exchanges with the ZL's that day, so
they just brough it to the church, put it in the fridge there, and I got it
out of the fridge and brought it home. Do you want me to send that package
back?

4. I got the test strips at Rite Aid, but they couldn't find the
prescription for some reason, they might have been able to, but I didn't
have the time to wait, so I bought them at full price. I am sorry. So my
card is probably on overdraft, if you would look at that for me, and get it
worked out that would be awesome, you are the best.

5. Mission President.
he is really cool. I have actualyl ahd a lot of time to spend around
him, and I think he will be really good. he has the right attitude about a
lot of things. So it will be good.

The weather hasn't been too bad here. But you know what not too bad weather
in New York means? Horrible. It hasn't been that hot, but hte humidity
here is redonkulous. You come home soaked in your own sweat. Oh how happy
i am it is not hotter. I heard last year was pretty bad.

Just so you know I think I have about 14 pods left, I will count for sure,
and let you have the exact count next week.

Ok, so I have one story for ya this week. We came into contact with this
man named Juan this week. We met him through English Class. His main
interest was in English. He says he needs to learn how to read and write so
he can pass a test he needs to take, taht is only offered in English. We
said we could help. I was talking to him the other day, and he was telling
me what he needed to learn to pass the test, and I was just listening and
said we could help, then after he said, "But I know you guys also teach
about Christ, and I have always liked learning about him and the Bible, so I
would love to hear about that too." It was so cool. You could really tell
that he wants to learn about the gospel. We actually have an appointment
with him tonight, so next week I will let you know how it went.

That is super crazy about camp. Camp Browning is a fun place though. I am
sure it will all work out and be fine.

It sounds like everyone has been doing pretty well. That's great.

That is awesome about the shoes and them being cheaper.

Well, I had better get going, so I will talk to you next week.

Love you bunches.

-Elder Miller