Elder Miller and his Texas flag

These are the last two letters sent to my parents from Elder Miller(Names have been changed or shortened to protect privacy and some of the more personal details have been left out) :

July 20th-

Howdy Family, It is a wonderful day in the northwest part of the city of Houston, I am very happy to hear from all you. Elder B is here now with elder W covering the southside of our ward. They were MTC companions and he was zone leader before getting here. We are continuing to progress and work hard, we bike a lot, like atleast 10-15 miles everyday we are on bikes. It is way hot here, but i still press forward knowing that it is part of it. I never ever complain, i never quit, never stop, like what President Uchtdorf said in conference a few months ago in his talk he talked about the story of Nehemiah, this is what nehemiah said " I am doing a great work and cannot come down!" So Basically I cannot slow down or settle for second place on things. But everything is good here with me, i have what I need. The food is great here, last night this lady made us a harvest of food, it was amazing, she had steak, skewered shrimp, baked potatoes, steamed vegetables, grilled chicken, all off the grill! it was amazing! haha i am getting fed pretty good here! I am working on a tape of me talking about scripture reading and thoughts and cool things i have discovered in the gospel. Just a nice tape to listen to on the way to work or in the house. Heavenly fathers plan is big enough for everyones children. I stopped by a less actives house the other day, she is 71, she hasnt been to church since she was 15, her sister and her joined the church in salt lake when everyone was members there. She has three kids and one of them is a member because he was baptized by one of our long time members in our ward. She is divorced for almost thirty years and lives by herself and her kids are in the surrounding area kinda close except her son who is a member who lives in Arizona. We asked her if we could teach her and stuff and she said that its too late to come back and that she doesnt know what we actually believe. She said she isnt interested in coming back because she is too old. That almost broke me down in tears because I know that everyone can come back and its never too late for ANYONE to come back and enjoy the blessings of this restored gospel. I would ask you my family to pray for this lady. I want to see her come to church before i leave this area. thats my goal. I love each and every one of you, I am glad dad has a pal to hang around with in Trixie, send me a picture of her. Lexie have fun but stay safe in all the things that you do. Mom and Dad I love you so much, without you two I wouldnt be here at all. Thank you for introducing me to the church and raising me in the truth. Dont be afraid to introduce or re-introduce the gospel to family, friends, or anyone in need. I love you and I know that I am doing a great work, a marvelous work and a wonder! Love always! Elder Miller

July 13

Hey Family! Well transfer calls came on saturday and I am staying put with Elder G for 6 more weeks. Elder G and I have had the best week ever! we have like 3 new investigators and taught 15 lessons. One of the lessons, we were biking down the road toward an investigators place and this Semi-truck was parked in a parking lot across the street and he waved us over. He invited us in to his cab and we taught him the first lesson and part of the second lesson. It was so crazy haha, that was the last place I would ever think of teaching someone, he is from San Antonio and passing through but he said he is thinking about attending our church. . My area is one of the ghettoes of houston, it has roach coaches(mexican taco trucks) on every corner. It is all good though. So its funny the heat is crazy it was humid as heck! it was 104 and i biked 25 miles the other day and oh man I was drenched with sweat. but we did a lot of work that day and we are working way hard. You are right about missionary work here in houston, it is way ghetto here. you have no idea, people are in such bad condition, most of the people i teach are on welfare or have had government case workers or whatever. The gospel is changing lives and it is the way to happiness in life. It gives hope for others to be better individuals and better children of a loving heavenlyfather. The ward here is not that great, very old and small because of tons of less actives. I am grateful that I know that we have a plan of salvation that we may have the opportunity to live with our families forever! I love you my family and I know you will be watched over as I am here in Texas. I am very blessed to be called of god and to have the authority to minister and preach the everlasting gospel of jesus christ. The people definately need the gospel here and I am working so hard, so so hard. I am busting my butt for the work, this experience means the world to me and I am excited to move forward. The time is flying by! We are really busy here and that makes time go by quick. I know that jesus christ is the son of god, the savior of all mankind and that we are all part of heavenly fathers plan. Remember my family to work in righteousness and love everyone. Never forget who you are and what your represent, share the gospel with anyone you feel is ready. Go to the temple as much as you can and read the book of mormon at any moment of time that you have available. I promise you great blessings my family, I am so happy to know that we are sealed together as a family. Dont ever let go of your testimony of Jesus christ and this gospel. Tell all my friends to email me a message or something. Moving on, i hope you know my family how much I care about what I am doing, I know I can be the greatest missionary that I choose to be, but its all up to me. Pray, read, and live the gospel! I love you all so very very much! Elder Loren James Miller

Catch up!

Okay so I have felt like a horrible sister, am so behind blogging for Loren. We have got quite a few updates and Letters on him and I need to let everybody know about it. So hear we go...

The Texas Houston Mission has a newsletter called " The Vision" and the mission home sent us a copy, Loren was in a picture with all the other new missionary arrivals. I can't seem to get the picture on this blog though, so you will just have to imagine Loren's sweet smiling face amongst a dozen other new elders and a sister missionary.

Loren's last two letters were more "real" to me. He included some experiences that he is having with other Elders, experiences with investigators, feelings he was having, what the weather was like and how he was coping. He was past the "la la la everything is wonderful" feeling. He still is constantly learning and growing in his testimony of the Savior, the atonement and many other big things, but he is having real life experiences to go along with it. He is past the MTC stage and has now hit the nitty gritty work of a mission. He is riding his bike in 101 degree weather plus humidity. He is teaching a woman who is trying to quit smoking, and has already quit drinking and doing drugs. He said he was able to go to the Houston temple. All and all I think he is really enjoying his time. I love him and I am so proud.

Elder Miller

Loren with his companion at the temple.

After riding his bike, notice the sweat running down his face.

Just a fun one!