Elder Loren J. Miller

December

2011-04-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Dec.6th,2010
Dear Family,

I am doing pretty good here, my new companion is a lot more obedient and fun to be around than the past few, so it is good. He is from Las Vegas, he is really funny and likes motorcycles and cars and stuff. Elder C and I are trying our best to live the higher standard.

Disneyland pictures were crazy to look at, I can't believe how much older everyone is looking. I definately think I want to go to see Emily above anything else and I think Texas would be fun to come back to sometime in the future. Well I do not like the snow either, I just don't like the mess it causes and the slow down of traffic. It is getting colder down here in Houston area, not crazy hot anymore.

Well we had a pretty interesting week this past week, we got in touch with a part member family who we are going to be teaching. The husband isn't a member and he is from India, he has been taught for years and years. His wife is a member and she is from Sweden and is a convert. She is active and wants him to be a member but he thinks all churches are good and he hasn't been taught for a year or so. We are really excited to start teaching him, We are way confident that we can seal the deal on this one. The ward is pretty suprised about it because they thought that it would be for a while before he would start to be taught again. We are also teaching B still, and we had a really good lesson with him this past week and the ward is really doing a good job in supporting us with a place to teach him. I have seen a lot of families from the K ward this past couple weeks because I am right next door to the area. An investigator in W got baptized and the elders didn't even tell me, I found out at the mission office when I was getting Elder C. The investigator's name was A and she was way solid and I taught her a lot before I got transfferred to K. I am glad she finally got baptized, and now they are teaching her mom and so it is pretty cool!
This week we have a lot ahead of us as far as finding new investigators, because we dropped a lot of the ones that Elder T wouldn't drop. They weren't going anywhere and just liked missionaries not wanting to progress, and I am glad I am here to re-establish the trust with the members.

Well I am happy to say that I am doing great and I am looking forward to three more weeks until I get to speak with you all.
I love you all and I am grateful for the sacrifices you have made to get me here and sustain me for the past 18 months. The time is passing by and I need all the prayers I can get to finish strong and to be the best I can be. I am grateful for the blessings that we have recieved and for the help that we can get if we are obedient and faithful. Please be safe and remember christ this christmas season.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

Dec.13th, 2010
Dear Family,

I am doing great here in the K and M S ward, even though it is getting freezing cold outside compared to the heat of the summer. Elder C and I are getting along pretty good and we are working pretty hard to get things rolling in this area. We are really trying to rebuild the teaching pool because we totally are starting from scratch. It is pretty good to serve with Elder C because he wants to work and be obedient, and he is fully invested in the mission. We are rebuilding trust with the wards here because it is need of it, and we are really making progress so far.

This past week the M S ward had their christmas party and an inactive member who's brother is the elders quorum president, came to it with his nonmember wife. This member is very inactive and is still a teacher in the priesthood, missionaries havent had any success with him in the past, so it was great to see him there. The whole time elder c was telling me that we need to go and talk to them and set an appointment to teach them, I told him that we need to be patient and let the members and the lord take care of it. So the next day at church they showed up to church for all three hours and we were hanging out by the bishop's office and he was filling out a tithing slip. The ward mission leader said that we might be teaching them in the near future. It is way sweet to see this happening, the members are really fellowshipping these part member families. That has kind of been the focus of Elder C and I's planning and prayers. So we will see what happens next week, and another part member family came to church as well for three hours and the husband is active and the wife is not a member.
Well I love each and every one of you and I am grateful to know what I know. I am grateful for my membership and my testimony that I have so diligently strived to gain the past 20 years. I am thankful for all the support and help you have given me. I love you and always keep you in my prayers.

Love always

Elder Loren James Miller

Dec. 20th, 2010
Dear Family!

Well it is great to read that email and her about all the exciting Christmas Plans. This week is the big christmas P-day with the whole mission, it happens on wednesday and then on Thursday it is the mission temple day. We had a really good week this past week and we are starting to pick up some support from the members. Elder C and I are doing really good, we are very happy to be companions. I hope I get to stay here another transfer with him, it is good to be with a companion that wants to be here.

We are starting to teach the part member family that came to the christmas party. We had a crazy dinner with them on friday, the wife is not a member and her name is c. C's brother came and is just returning from the army, and he is living with them for a few weeks. Well he was completely anti mormon, when c first said I have a few questions. He just kept bringing up contentious questions. Even c's husband (s) who is a member, was upset and wanted him to stop. We both kind of sat back and laughed it off, everything he said was funny, all of it was Anti mormon statements that I have heard all before. So we read 3 Ne 11:29 and left the scene, c was really embarrassed because her brother was a complete idiot. So when we got in the car, we both prayed for c and s, we prayed so long, we just really are hoping they can overcome this.

Well our prayers were answered, s's family lives all in the area in surrounding wards, came up to us at church, (a few attend the same building) they are all active and the dad lives in the ward next door and he called us. They all told us that S and c went over to S's parents house and talked to them till 2 in the morning about the gospel after the meltdown at dinner. Seth's dad called and set up an appointment with us to teach S and c. S's family told us all yesterday that it is a miracle that we are being a part of. One of his brother's was in tears, telling me that 20 years of family prayers for s to come back and be active, have been answered. It is incredible what I am a part of, seeing a family rejoice and are way happy because the Black Sheep of the family is returning to the fold. S has been to church the past two weeks with his wife, pays tithing now, both live the word of wisdom, c studies the book of mormon and is really seeking the truth. Elder C and I are so excited to teach her and see a family be started in the gospel. I will tell you more on saturday over the phone alright? Pray for us! I am grateful that are family is all active and we are staying close to the church. S hasn't been active since he was 15. His dad was in tears on the phone with me last night and I got a little choked up.

We will probably set a goal for c to be baptized by end of january. We hope that s will baptize her, if he is worthy, and ready to. B called us yesterday and he wants to be baptized January 1st, so we have to teach him tonight and get him interviewed for baptism tommorrow. He leaves thursday for louisana and gets back on Jan. 1st in the morning. We are excited, because he is ready, he is young, but he has formed friendships with the ward youth. So yeah!!! Things are going great!

Well I love you all so much and look forward to the big phone call! I am not a hundred percent sure when we are going to call but I am guessing about later in the day like 5pm or later. I might send you a little one minute call in the morning to let you know when. I will call dads phone alright? Well I hope all is well at home and I am grateful for the gospel and the authority that god has entrusted his servants with. I am so thankful for my membership and our eternal family, it is so beautiful to bike home at night or drive home at night and to live a football field away from the temple. I look forward to hearing your voices, I am grateful to have you as my family. Heavenly father has definately blessed me! Be good and be safe. Study the birth of the savior from the book of mormon or from Luke. I promise if you do that christmas will be more purpose centered.

Love you and talk to this saturday!

Elder Loren James Miller

Dec.27th,2010
Dear Family!

Well it was quite an adventure to talk to you the other day! I really needed that phone call because it has been forever since I have heard your voices!

So C might be baptized this saturday! We have to teach her like everyday this week to make it happen. She wants it to be done quick! She has a testimony and knows everything is true! It is incredible! We will be working with her this whole week and preparing her for the baptism. We are going to hopefully do some finding this week and find some new investigators. It is getting pretty cold here and hopefully we get some people outside to talk to.

We have the spirit with us more when we attend the temple and we gain more spiritual strength. I definately want to to go to the temple once a week when I get home, because it helps me out so much.
I am working hard and trying my best, I just need to keep looking forward and not look back. I am trying to be happy and trying to find joy, I am doing some amazing things here and I have changed a lot. I am really excited to be home in may but right now I got a lot more things to do. My companion and I are doing the right things and are trying to help others do what is right. I am not really worried about home things right now or feeling trunky! I love my mission and I love the work that I am doing. The lord has molded me into the adult I need to be for my future. I love you all and hope you have a great week, be safe and keep me in your prayers always! I look forward to next weeks email!

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

You thought I was never coming back...

2011-03-14T22:44:00.001-07:00

Well I definitely should get the worst big sister of the decade award. It has been MONTHS since I updated Elder Miller's Blog, but guess what?! He comes home in like 2 months! How incredibly exciting is that!? WOOHOO! So lets see here perhaps we should do a bit of catch up. Hopefully I can get you all caught up quickly so you are all up to speed with him.

Nov. 1st 2010
Dear Family,
Well Halloween has come and gone, thank goodness its over, because I just am not a huge fan of halloween espeically on my mission. Now that it is November the weather is cooling down and it is really pretty with the fall leaves falling and being right next to the Temple it is so nice. I sent you an email with the T-shirt sizes and I am pretty sure they will all be suprised by the shirts. About the whole Disneyland thing, it is all good, I really dont mind at all, just be safe in your travels. I think it is best for the little ones to go experience the whole disneyland experience. I am having the time of my life here in Spring so don't worry about me having fun or being left out.

It is Emily's birthday this week! The next one she has, I will be there! I can't believe that it is November already, it seems like it was just yesterday when I got to Waller and it was June.

It is so much fun with Elder T, We get a long really well and we had a pretty good week, we found two new investigators and we have gained a lot of trust with the members of the wards we serve in. We had a good talk, Elder T and I about companionship unity and working hard. The talk was very helpful because it helped us stay on the same page. One of our new investigators name is v, elder T talked to him on the street before I got here a couple weeks ago. We had an appoinment with him last saturday but he couldn't meet so we met with him this past saturday. We gave him a pamphlet on the restoration when we first met him, so he read it before we met with him the other day. What was interesting is that he told us he read through it and told us that his mom actually investigated the church years ago. He said he found two copies of the book of mormon in his house and actually read a little bit. It is so crazy how the Lord leads us to people that are prepared because Elder T and I feel that he has been prepared. Hopefully we can take a spanish speaking member with us so we can invite his mom to learn more about the church.

That is a pretty cool experience you had with trick or treating, I think that you have done a great job recognizing when a missionary opportunity occurs, how to respond to it. Keep praying for missionary opportunities, I really think our family is really becoming member missionaries. I think that if every active member of the church chose one person, either inactive,less-active, or nonmember and set goals to bring the gospel fully into their lives, the work would move forward and we would see more and more converts or re-activation. It was really powerful this week to read my line of authority and to realize that the Priesthood is here on the earth and it will never be taken away. I am grateful to be apart of that line of authority in which it came from the lord himself.

I thank you for the sonic money and the money in the mail last week, I really appreciate it all. I am losing weight and fitting better into my clothes again. I am glad I left waller because Thanksgiving would have been crazy to be out there. They feed you like crazy out in waller and we never ride bikes or go to the gym so it is hard to work off the food.

I hate being sick on a mission because it definately slows down everything. I hope everyone who is sick feels better and that your all safe. We are really working hard here in our area and enjoying the fruit of our hard work. This area is unique, the members are the source of the conversion of people and so we have to help them find people. I have learned a great deal of patience and diligence in the past few months, when we work hard and we do what is right the spirit is with us and when the spirit is with us many good things happen!

I am grateful for the call and decision I made to serve a mission, this will spring board my life to greater heights. I have a testimony of the first vision, it happened and I do not doubt the events that followed. The restoration is still unfolding to this day, we are led by a prophet I know that is called of god, the priesthood is here and is the authority given to man to act in the name of god. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the pages hold key words and passages that can change lives. I testify that God lives and his church is here and I am grateful to be a member and a messenger of it. Thanks for being my family and being sealed in the temple for all time and eternity, it has been such a comfort for me to know that we are together. Be safe and thanks for all the prayers.

Love Always

Elder Loren James Miller

Nov. 8th, 2010

Well it was a pretty rough week as far as the work is concerned, but things are looking up and I am pretty excited about what is to come. Elder T was sick most of the week and a lot of our investigators have been missing in action and we need new investigators. Most of the investigators we have are not progressing at all and I really want to drop them and I don't think that would go well with Elder T. We did how ever find out that a son of a Recent convert wants to be taught and baptized. His siblings and his mom were baptized the past few months but he wasnt interested at the time. B has been going to seminary and to church regularly. B actually stood up for the church on a recent wrestling trip, a teammate on the team stood up on the bus and asked who ever is mormon to raise their hand. There was three of them that raised their hand including B, who isn't a member!, and the teammate actually tried punching b but he missed and was later kicked off the wrestling team. The bishop of the ward said in PEC yesterday after that story was shared, "send him to missouri"! haha they could have used his courage down in missouri when the saints were being pushed out.

A lot of the members of the wards are trying their best to help us build a teaching pool. There is a lot of members working on their neighbors and friends, it was a pretty good feeling at church yesterday to have members come up to me and tell us that they are going to try and set something up with their friends. I am in a pretty hard area where people are set in their ways and are very successful where they are at. Also there is a lot of misinformation about the church in this area, for example about the temple. But for the work to move forward in the most successful way, the members are key to everything.

So saturday night we went to a family's house for dinner and we walked in and they would not turn off the TV. They had to watch TCU vs. UTAH and so I probably made a mistake but we watched a little bit of the game.
Thanks mom for who you are and the love you have for others who are not even your own children. I am grateful for the foundation and the standard you and dad have set for the future generations. I hope I can have a marriage and family like you and dad. I hope I can continue the faith exemplified by you two in my raising of my children and my marriage. I am thankful for the atonement and the savior's life, he dedicated it to us and to his father, now it is our turn to do the same. We are his children and his prized possesions, he knows us and will be there every step of the way as long as we do our best. Despite all the conflicts, the trials, and when the journey seems long, we always know that the "church is true".

I love you all and appreciate the family I come from, it has helped me on my mission so much. I am fine, take care, be safe and be grateful.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

Nov.15th, 2010
Dear Family,
It is getting much cooler and darker here in Texas and it feels like Idaho sometimes for sure. I did get some pictures from Emily in her email to me and I think its so incredible to look at them and see how time as flown by.

The missionary work this week went pretty good, it is hard to adjust from w to K/MS wards because in W there was so many investigators and potentials. Over here its much more established and rich and people know about the church because they have lived in the area forever. But we did find a new investigator named D who we found in the weirdest way. We had an old ward list and we looked at a family's name and we decided to go visit that family. Well when we got there, D answered the door and said that he bought the house from them 8 months ago. So it was kind of awkward but we did prevail and we talked about who we are and what we do. He invited us into his house and we taught him about the restoration. He is really open and he hasn't had much religious experience in the past, he even thought about being atheist. I know that the spirit was there and it did touch his heart, because I could feel it powerfully. Sometimes we just sat there in silence as he pondered what we taught him, and thats when the spirit flowed in. We are very excited to teach him, he is looking for a direction, it was such a humbling experience to teach him how to pray, he did not know how and Elder T coached him through it.

We did start teaching B,I wasn't there because we were on exchanges. If his dad approves of him getting baptized we will set a date for early december and shoot for it with him. The MS ward is where we have investigators and the Klein ward is pretty tough right now. The K ward is a powerhouse ward, very active and very successful in the past as far as missionary work. But earlier this year they split the wards and half the area got moved into the other wards. The area has been tracted out all this year because there was really a lot of hard work put into finding. There are some members that are really working on giving us referrals so we can just pray and help inspire them to continue to work on their friends.

Elder T is really good and he is so funny, but he is very very quiet. Well we do service together a lot and do P-day together, but we study and do our own work in our areas. We do go on exchanges , but we did them already this transfer, and the groceries, we all pitch in and buy what the whole apartment needs. Each companionship is in charge of their own area and so we can't really invervene with each others investigators or ward work.

We are doing service at the temple again and actually I kind of miss doing the service at the horse stalls in W. We helped the local thrift store the other day build used christmas trees for their christmas display. It was a lot of fun and we built a huge 9 footer and those things are huge.

So I might need a new pair of shoes but I am not sure, because I have six months left and I don't want you to buy 80 + shoes that I will wear for six months. I dont really need anything else, my pants are doing fine and my coat is good! My fitness is going great and I am excited to continue to try to burn off some fat and my big belly that I built in waller. The thanksgiving plans are pretty big, we have a lot of families to visit and we have turkey bowl in the morning.

I am in the 4th quarter of my journey and I have a lot good to do still. There is so much more for me to experience and I am very grateful to serve this mission. I thank the lord every day for the blessing of serving the people and teaching the truth. It is the most rewarding thing ever and I am thrilled to be here. I appreciate all that you have taught me before I entered the MTC because it has helped me out here in Texas. I know that the gospel is true and that the heavens are open and the blessings are being poured upon us. Thanks for all that you do to support me out here and travel safe whereever you may go. I love you all so much!

Love Always

Elder Loren James Miller

Nov.22nd, 2010
Dear Family,

It is thanksgiving week and the holiday season is in full swing, which means missionary work gets twice as hard. People are way busy and out of town! But we do have 4 thanksgiving appointments and 2 turkey bowls on thanksgiving day. So I will be a blimp by the time its black friday!

I can't believe I am the next one to come home in our ward! Is my mission plaque up? Take a picture of it next time?

Speaking of christmas, is there anything you need from Houston, Texas? The missionary work here is pretty slow like I said, but we have a lot of work to do. We taught B this past week and we asked what he thought of baptism and he said that it would help him fit in. At that point we decided to hold off on giving him a baptismal date because he needs to realize that baptism is not just another thing to do on a random day. He needs to have that testimony of following the savior and being baptized by his authority. We are going to teach him this week hopefully and teach him about covenants and how baptism is the gate to the journey to heavenly father.

We had an interesting experience eating dinner at a member's house who invited their non-member friend over. Bro.C (member) asked the friend if she had read any of the book of mormon that they gave her a while back. Sis. C was like hunny don't drill her at the dinner table with questions like that. Well their friend responded and said she gave the copy back to them and is happy being catholic and her church's bible study groups. So later on we shared a message after dinner like we normally do, and we shared a lesson on the holy ghost and its role in our life. I shared Moroni 10:5, and then elder T shared Galations 5:22 and we taught the C's and their friend that the Holy ghost is how we know the truth and how we are comforted. The spirit was so strong, Bro.C shared a scripture in the bible and then their friend asked for a pen and paper to write the scriptures down. She asked me where I got my scripture from and I said the book of mormon, and she said "oh i dont have one of those,". So at the end of the evening she got back a Book of Mormon and she is very interested in reading about. It is funny how things work out by the power of the holy ghost! It was very powerful and the members were way happy!

We had zone conference last week and it was basically, a question and answer with President H. There wasn't any general authorities there or anything. I hope thanksgiving is great for you all in Idaho, be safe in that winter storm, and I hope my thanksgiving is great too!

Well I am so thrilled to be here in Spring, I love my companion and the calling which I have. Thanks for all the love and support, I am grateful for the gospel and for the opportunities it gives us to repent, to become clean, and live better. I have a testimony that god lives and his church lives as well, and that it will never leave the earth again. This thanksgiving, I ask you to be thankful for your membership in the church of Jesus christ. Everything good that has happened to me in my life is because our family's faith and beliefs. I love you all and please never forget the book of mormon, read it, no matter how long each day, it will be a guide!

Love Always

Elder Loren James Miller

Nov.29th, 2010
Dear Family,
Thanksgiving has came and gone and it was a lot of fun in Texas this year. We played in two turkey bowls and ate three dinners, it was so much fun. The first turkey bowl we played in was at K M Stadium on turf and it is K High School's stadium and it is huge. After we played for an hour at that Turkey bowl we went over to a middle school and played with another ward for another two hours! It was crazy! We ate dinner at 2 o clock and then at 430 and then had a mini dinner at 7. The food was really good but I do miss thanksgiving dinners at home.

Transfer news came saturday night and it was kind of weird this time around. I am staying in the area but Elder T is leaving. I am suprised that he is leaving and he is too because he wants to stay. My new companion is Elder C and I am not sure what to think about it. Hopefully he wants to work and be obedient, because thats something I definately need, a companion who is both of those.

That is pretty exciting about disneyland! I hope I get to see some fun pictures of the grand kids. I will send you a bunch of pictures for christmas so you can scrapbook them, and I have a lot more to take between then and now. There is actually a section in Preach my gospel in chapter 9 about family history as a finding tool. I do not know a lot about family history but I do know that it is a big hobby for people. One of the ideas preach my gospel gives us is to go to a local family history center and meet with a member to help us understand it and learn about it. When investigators get baptized, the home teachers and ward missionaries help them prepare names for temple work for them to be baptized for. It is a lot better for members to teach new members or investigators about family history because it helps create relationships that can last forever. We as missionaries focus a lot on teaching people the doctrine of the restoration, and helping them find out through feeling the holy ghost and recognizing the holy ghost.

It is incredible that Grandpa is 88! I forgot how young he is! It is getting pretty cold and dark here, which is no fun to bike in! But I am staying warm, and I am being protected on the busy roads at night. Thanks for the package and advent calendar you sent this past week! Elder T appreciates the money and he says thank you! Elder w gets home in 6 weeks! He comes home January 12th I think? I definately think you all should go down there and see him.

Well this week will be pretty interesting, we have a lot of finding to do because you can't do missionary work until you find someone to teach. Elder c and I are going to do all we can to find someone to teach. A lot of investigators have dropped us lately and now we have to rebuild our teaching pool. I thank you for your prayers and all the help you have given me! I am doing good and I am excited for another fresh start. I hope you all travel safe and sound this week and have fun and know that I am doing good. Only like 26 days until I speak on the phone! YEAY! This work is true no matter how hard it is! I love my mission and I am grateful for the lessons that I have learned from serving.

Love always

Elder Loren James Miller

October

2010-11-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

October 4th 2010-
Dear Family,
Well conference weekend has come and gone, it breezed by so fast, Ihave no idea how it could have gone so fast. It was my third generalconference of my mission which means for most missionaries, that Ihave one more general conference weekend left. I really enjoyed all ofthe talks especially Elder Ballard’s and Elder Christofferson. I hopethat dad, you enjoyed priesthood session! Priesthood Session wasfantastic and I got to watch it with my good friend Elder L. Wehad the baptism of A between conference sessions on Saturday andit was great! A has a tough time sitting still during church, usteaching him and just all the time. Right after he was baptized, hewas calm and collected during the rest of the baptism program; it isso special to see how far he has come in the gospel. Well we had interviews last week and it was great to talk to PresidentH. It was another confirmation to me that he was the missionpresident the lord called for my mission. He has helped me so muchthrough out my mission and he helped me out this past week. I have agreat feeling that I am going to be transferred on Oct. 19, I lovethis area but it just seems right. We find out next Saturday, transferinformation and I honestly hope all works out. Our investigators are doing great, not much to report besides that weare getting in with them more consistently. We are working on some less-active members as well that arestriving to come back to activity. Members are so happy to see usworking hard and trust us a lot more. There might not be a lot ofbaptisms in the next month or two but I know that there have been alot of seeds planted. Missionaries in the future will greatly reap theharvest of our work here. I am so thrilled to begin another week of work and to see people havetheir hearts changed by the Holy Ghost. This Saturday Elder Costa, ofthe seventy will speak to all three missions and I am excited forthat. I am praying that this week will commit at least two more peopleto be baptized for the beginning of November. I know that the work isso hard and I know that if only one person even is baptized, the workwill have been a success. I was told this week by President H that I have one of the biggest hearts in the mission. That I have abig heart for the work and for others around me and that really mademe feel great. I owe it to you mom and dad for all the years ofservice to others and to the lord. I am grateful for my family andfriends and love you all so very much. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’tfor you! Until next week be safe and pray always.
Love your son
Elder Loren James Miller
October 11th, 2010
Dear Family,
Well after looking at those pictures, it makes me feel so good to seehow great everyone is. Sometimes, I forget what you all look like! Itis sad I know but it has been a long time since we have seen eachother face to face. The work is well here in W, we have a lotgoing on still but some investigators are hiding from us which isreally not that good. I am happy to see a beautiful baby be blessed inour family and to see one of the fruits of the Restoration, thepriesthood, working to bless the lives of families and individuals. Next Saturday is transfer calls and I am anxious but I need to putthat on hold because I have a whole week until that night. I would love to be transferred to a Bikearea, because I need to shed some weight off and also more people aretalked to in a bike area then in a car area. But as far as towns orplaces, I would like to head out to Katy or the Woodlands, butwhatever happens it will be good with me. Katy is suburbia, and prettynew, and the Woodlands is where the rich people are but is full oftrees and hidden paved bike paths. Our investigators are doing great; we should have at least one or twobaptism at the beginning of November. Elder Costa came and also the area seventy member S. Gifford Nielson,who played football for the Oilers in the seventies. All three Houstonmissions were there and every missionary got to shake their hand whichwas pretty cool. He talked about his conversion story and not to besocial instead, focus on the people as we teach. If we are too casualthen we can let the spirit walk right out of the room as we go. Thiswas the second time in my mission that he spoke to us and he is a veryenergetic and funny man. I turn 17 months this Wednesday and I am still in awe howwonderful this experience has been and I got so much good things tolearn still. I am grateful for the email you sent me, it doesn’tmatter long or short, I just want to know how everyone is doing. Besafe in your travels, I love you all so much. I look forward tohearing back from you soon. This work is true, look at all the goodhas come out of it.
Love Always
Elder Loren James Miller
October 18th. 2010
Dear Family,
Well Christmas came a little bit early this year, transfers have cameand gone and I am heading back to S, TX. I am going to the K/M S wards which were right next door to K ward. Iam going to be living in the most expensive apartment in the missionand going to be in a half car half bike area. Which I am excited aboutbecause I need to lose some weight, and also I am going back to thatgym that I went to when I was in K. My new companion is fromCali and I know him pretty well, his name is Elder T. I have really wanted to serve with him and he is agreat guy. Iam excited to serve with him.We livewith another set of elders.I am veryhappy with the transfers. This week was pretty difficult because a lot of our investigatorappointments didn't happen because they forgot or they cancelled. Sothe other day we decided to go tract in a trailer park. After about 15 minutes we were kind of just like whatever,today isnt the day, nobody is really listening and so decided to knockon two more doors. We saw a school bus drop off kids in theneighborhood and this one girl opened up the gate to her fence in herfront yard and we asked her if we could talk to her parents. She saidalright you can come by, and we go around the trailer and we see alittle cottage house tucked in there. We knock on the door and thelittle girl's mom was so happy to see us. She knew exactly who we wereand told us that she saw missionaries two years ago ride by on bikesand wondered if they would ever talk to her. She has been waiting fortwo years now for missionaries to talk to her, and she is the only nonmember in her family. She has been through a lot in her life and wantsus to teach her and she is pretty much golden. Elder S and hisnew companion will have a great time teaching her. The lord blesses uswhen we keep fighting the fight and work hard and dont waste time.This was an example of that, I never wanted to stop working because offailure, it just pushed me a little bit harder. I amgoing to miss w, they all love me here and there is people outhere that I will always remember. W is a small piece of heaven onearth and its because of the people, they are so open and kind. Remember how much I was involved with thescriptures? Now I finished the old testament, and the book of mormonand I am moving on and doing it again, (except the old testament, thatwas a beast). Well this might be my last area that I go to, so I pray that I mayfinish strong and go out with a bang. I have worked so hard, and Ihave done the best I can, but I know I can do better. I know that godlives and that his work is not supposed to be frustrating and that theholy ghost is the abosolute best companion to have. It will the bestcompanion I will have on my mission because when I have it miracleshappen. I love you all so much and pray for you day and night, pleasebe safe in all you do and I am happy to represent you and the lordeveryday.
Love Always
Elder Loren James Miller
October 25th, 2010
Dear Family,

Well I have moved to a new area, I am now in the S area again, this time next door to my old area. I cover two wards, the M S and K Wards. These two wards very active wards and after meeting a lot of the members yesterday, these two wards are pretty cool. The work is rather slow right now, the teaching pool all got baptized the last few months but it is all good, things will work out. This area is simple, members are the major source of investigators and baptisms, either part member families or member referrals. I got sick this week, battling allergies/cold stuff but I am finally getting over it and working hard. We go to the gym I once used to go to and we ride bikes every other day so I should be losing some weight.
Elder T is so much fun and I love him so much. He is a big teddy bear of a guy and loves kids and the youth of the wards. Everyone in both wards just love him and want us to come over all the time. The other Elders we live with are pretty good guys, Elder K is from UT. His companion is Elder S is from Missouri.I am learning a lot from them.

It was a pretty sad day last monday night, I had dinner with the L family and they gave a going away present. I love that family, they have helped us out so much in W and I was sharing a lesson with them on Mosiah 3, which is probably the most detailed account of the atonement in my opinion. When I was reading it, I felt the spirit so powerful and I began to weep and to feel all this emotions. It was very hard to leave w but I know that it will always be there and the lord truly does have other plans for me. So usually the first week or two in a new area, everyone asks where your from and this past weekend, I loved answering that question. I am grateful to be who I am and to be where I am from.

Finally, I am getting that priesthood Line of authority, it has been on my list for a long time! It is so special to me, to know my priesthood authority traces back to the savior himself. It is such a privilege to hold the priesthood and to act in his name to perform the ordinances of salvation. I am happy to represent our family out here and the lord, this is his work and it will not be frustrated. I am blessed to know all of our family is doing so great! Please remember to pray and to give thanks for the help I have received out here. Have a great week! I love you all.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

September

2010-10-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

September 6th, 2010‏

Dear Family,
Well this week we did find out about transfers and I am staying putwith Elder S for another six weeks. I am very excited about it because there is a lot of good things happening and we actually having a teaching pool. The BBQ has propelled the area and it gave membersconfidence in inviting people to do stuff. Speaking of the BBQ, it wasa blast and there were more non members than members there. We have afew good potentials and a lot of good feedback from the guests at theBBQ. We were there from 9 AM to 4 pm and we were wiped out for therest of the day. It was hot and in Proselyting clothes, it just getsworse with a tie. Everyone was having a good time there and Iparticapated in the watermelon seed spitting contest. I didnt do sogood but it was fun and also elder s got 4th place in thejalepeno eating contest. He got really sick the rest of the day andhis face was completely pink and just was way out of it. It wasprobably the best thing for this ward out here because it helped themunite and work together and be involved with other's lives. L is doing good and we have a lesson with him tonight. He willprobably get baptized in the beginning of october or at the end ofthis month. He studies out of gospel principles, joseph smith manualfrom last year and the book of mormon. The lord has definatelyprepared him for us to teach and help him. We are working with an Inactive member who I think Ihave told you about, his name is E, and he is a RM.He told us that he is pretty excited to watch thegame tonight and he is rooting for Boise. I wish for just one night I canwatch a football game, but I know that obedience is the price forblessings out here. We are pretty busy tonight anyways so temptationwont be a problem. I can't wait to watch some football with Stellar and dad.I have pictures from the Waller BBQ and I willsend them to you soon.Well I am grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives and I am so happyto be who I am. I have about 8 months left and I have to lengthen mystride and finish working hard. Time is flying by, but that is becauseI have lost myself for the welfare of others, the heat doesn't matterto me anymore because the people need us. The book of mormon is theone thing that has gave me a boost of spiritual power and has broughtme so much happiness in times of afflictions. Never take that powerfulwitness for granted, it is something that saves lives. I hope that youhave a wonderful evening watching the heart of boise on the nationalstage. I love you all so much and pray for each one of you everyday! Love always Elder Loren James Miller

September 13th, 2010
Dear Family,
Well it was a pretty interesting week and we had a big week as far as our teaching goes. The Boise State game was very much a jumpstart to my happiness, I had members invite me over to watch it but I declined. A lot of members watched it and said that Boise State might be too good for the Mountain West and that Kellen Moore is something special.
That BBQ is still causing much good in the Waller ward, oh man we have non members coming to church with their family members who are members now. We have a couple members telling us to go talk to their friends who went to the BBQ. The spirit of missionary work and unity is really radiating in this part of Texas. So we got ourselves this past 6 new investigators! None came from the BBQ, all came by our finding efforts and our faith! So we went to an inactive member of the church's house and she is the only member of her family and her husband used to be kinda ANTI and he has warmed up a lot in the past few years. So we go over there and knock, she isn't home but her 22 year old daughter answers and lets us in and three of her other kids were there as well. We taught all of them and they all agreed to be taught. It was just kind of funny how that happens, we had no idea they had kids at home and so the lord blessed us there. Another new investigator couple we found through old records in our area, they haven't been taught in two years and so we taught them and the wife knows that joseph smith is a prophet and that the book of mormon is true even before we started the lesson. The husband I think feels the same way, I am not sure because they speak only spanish! haha. So they are solid and we are going to really work hard with them and prepare them for baptism.

An interesting experience happened this past week, E, who is inactive, coaches at the high school and his team had a game on friday. A member told us that we should get permission to go to the game to support evroy and we thought it was a good idea. We called President and he told us that we could but there is risks involved with it and that we should pray and ponder about it. So Elder S and I did and we just felt that it didn't feel right and that heavenly father has something for us to do or someone for us to teach that needs us. We called and told President H this and he told me on the phone that he trusts me and that he knows we are making a good decision. So we went out knocking on a random street that afternoon at like 4 pm, friday. Instead of doing something else that would allow us to go to the football game later so we worked on a street nearby another street where we have contacts. So the first door we knocked on, we did the door approach that Elder K taught us that works and the lady told us to come back next week. So a couple doors later, a guy answers the door and lets us in because its too hot he says. We walk in and we talk to his dad mainly who is in his 50's and we had a great lesson on prayer and seeking to know the truth. Towards the end of the lesson, I felt prompted to ask him what his last name is and he told me, then it clicked, he is the older brother of a member in our ward. The guy's name is T and he is very open and wants us to come back teach him. I fully believe that heavenly father wanted us to meet him instead of the football game and it is such a blessing to be guided to people.

We are having a lot of success in W and I have a feeling like we are really planting seeds in this wonderful land.I am so grateful for this work and for my mission, I have been out for 16 months and I am just having the time of my life. I need to lose weight but it will come, besides that I have no worries and no doubts, this is where I need to be doing with my life. I am trying to sustain the drive and keep doing good and helping others no matter who they are. The book of mormon is true and though I was not there in 1820, Joseph did see our father and his son in a sacred grove. My mission president is called of god and knows what is best and he has been very good to me. I can't believe general conference is right around the corner and the lord's servants will speak to us again. How great and marvelous is this gospel! I pray that you are all safe and sound, travel safe and be the best you can be.

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

September 20th, 2010
Dear Family,

So I have to say that the letters were pouring in from family members and others this past week and it has truly been crazy to get stuff each day. I really have to say thank you for asking people to write me. It kind of made my companion a little upset, but he got over it when he got some mail on saturday. I sent an email to Elder and Sister S with my notes from Elder Kikuchi, hopefully that will help them out. I really loved the Boise State shirts, the orange one didnt fit Elder Steagall because its too big but I gave it to a member who I am converting to a Boise State fan. I gave it to the member and he is an old granpa Texan, he said "gee how much do I owe ya?" " I might have to ask the bishop if I can wear this on sunday because this is beautiful". This member almost got choked up a little bit it was cool to see how appreciative and grateful he was for that gift from home.

So yeah our teaching pool, is incredible, we are having a baptism with a 9 year old who comes from a recently activated single parent home. He is going to get baptized between satuday conference sessions and he has came a long way, he didnt even know how to pray or who god was 6 weeks ago, now he knows what baptism is and why he needs to be baptized, he even offers to say prayers now. We have another new investigator as well thats pretty solid, she was a referral from her daughter who is in the w ward. Her daughter called us out of nowhere last week and said hey you should go see my mom and my mom's neighbor. So we are teaching her mom and her next door neighbor but her next door neighbor is an inactive member who doesnt have her records here. It is crazy, our investigator is helping the inactive member come back to church and the inactive member is helping us teach our investigator. We have a lot of good things rolling here in w, it is a dream, we have a teaching pool of like 7 investigators that have a few bumps in their road to baptism but we are going to work on smoothing things out. It is amazing how in a 3 month span, an area has gone from ground zero to the top of the mountain. The baptism of the 9 year old will be a great event because investigators will really feel the spirit of that great ordinance.

A lot of members out here give us peaches and canned things, people are very self-reliant and love farming. Yesterday we had an interesting experience, we were getting into our car and a lady came out of nowhere in a chevy blazer and pulled up to us and said where you elders from. We told her and she told us she taught sister missionaries how to crochet like 20 years ago and she knows members of the ward. I asked her if she can teach us how to crochet and so hopefully this can lead to teaching her! Next week we will head over to her house down the street!

I really am blessed for all that you and dad do! Well I have to get running, but I love you all so much, the gospel is important to me and is in my mind and heart. The Lord loves us , he did before we came and will love us as long as we love him. My mission has saved my life and has helped our family out so much, I am grateful for the book of mormon and the first vision, that spring day changed the world in 1820, it sure has. Thanks for all the support and letters, I have 8 months left but I know that each day matters, and each person is a child of god. I look forward to hearing how this week turns out for everyone, be good and travel safe! I love you!

Love,
Elder Loren James Miller
Septemebr 27th, 2010
Dear Family,
The Lord has definately been taking care of you all and meduring the past 17 months. October is almost here and it is gettingcooler here in Texas, I am done with summers on my mission, now tokickoff the fall is General Conference weekend which I am excited forbecause members really do stop and listen to the prophet's voice. Thisweekend will be a great opportunity for our investigators to come outand listen and go to a baptism in between sessions. Elder Holland oncesaid that 80 percent of investigators that go to baptisms of otherswill get baptized. I am excited to see some of our investigators makea leap of faith and come to a session of conference so that they cangain a testimony of the restoration by hearing the lord's servantsspeak. Many members out here told me about the success of Boise State thispast weekend. More members are starting to follow the Broncos than theBYU cougars, hopefully this isnt just a temporary thing. We had a lotof let downs this week with appointments with investigators fallingthrough but also we have an investigator who is engaged to a memberwho is going to out and teach with us. It is kind of funny to see thata non-member is more willing to come out and help us than the Eldersquorum of the ward. We will see how that goes, but anyhow, we justhave a lot of investigators that have great stories and backgrounds.We just picked up a new investigator this week who is 11 years old andshe is from venezuela and she is a niece of a member family. She is ona 5 year visa for education and trying to learn english. She hasfamily in Venezuela who are members but her immediate family is notall members. She is a great girl and told us yesterday that she feltthe spirit so strong that she wanted to bear her testimony insacrament meeting yesterday. We set a goal with her to be baptized atthe end of the month IF her mom allows her to. We had another great moment with one of our investigators this pastweek. We gave him a pamphlet about the restoration and followed upwith him a day or two later and taught him. The first thing we askedhim if he had any questions and he said to us "yeah, where can I get abook of mormon?". This man who tracted into three weeks ago,completely understands the book of mormon's purpose and he found itout on his own. That is another miracle of my mission, the power ofthe book of mormon in people's lives. If this investigator never getsbaptized within my time here in waller, but understands and feels thespirit of the book of mormon, I will feel accomplished. The difficulty about serving in Waller is the distance between peopleand the miles we are allotted to each month. We are supposed to teachinvestigators twice a week and its very challenging to teach themtwice a week. People are very busy and also there is too little timein the week. I really missspending time with the family, so I hope next summer I have time towork and spend time with family. Well I am very happy to hear about all the good things happening inthat end of the country. I am doing great and I am working hard tobecome better each day, and my mission had definately changed the wayI work with people. In closing I leave you my testimony of this gospel and of therestoration, another great fruit of the restoration is generalconference. I wish I would have been more appreciative of generalconference earlier in my life but I guess that is what the lord hadplanned for me. I still have great memories of saturday sessions andmom turning on conference in all parts of the house, while she cleanedor did other things. No matter what room we were in we can here thevoice of the lord, I ask you to take advantage of conference weekend,and please pray and ask for guidance before the conference sessions.Be together and write down everything! I love you all so much and I amgrateful to be a member of a great family who loves me so much.
Love Always
Elder Loren James Miller

I want to apologize, but that wouldn't be enough...

2010-10-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here are Loren's August Letters- enjoy!

8/02/10
Dear Family,

Well I am so happy to be back in a two man companionship, the three man thing was not fun! I am having a lot of fun learning and working in the spanish community! Elder S is really cool and is really helping me out a lot with spanish. Him teaching me spanish has really helped unite us together so we can teach better because when companions are not united or don't get along its hard for the spirit to be there. There is a lot of spanish people that Elder S talked to this week, it really is hard to just sit there and watch him teach them in spanish, but I am learning and paying attention to him and what they are talking about. We have so many appointments this week, we have 5 houses right next to each other of spanish families that we have appointments with in one day. The ward is really helping us out with the work and really is excited to have a dual companionship. There is a lot of members that speak spanish because of their mission and they still use it to teach the less actives so that is really good. Elder S is kind of in a culture shock because he is so used to everything in the spanish language and so it is really hard to pray at members home in english.

I am glad that you enjoyed the pictures that I sent you and hopefully I can start taking more pictures because it has been hard to find what and when to take a picture. I dont want to look like a tourist or a cameraman, I want to look like a missionary.The W ward is really focused on reactivation and retention because there is a lot of those that fell away not too long ago.

We started doing service recently for a lady that is not a member who manages a property and has her own property for her horses. Last week we cleaned out her horse stalls and picked up her corrall area a little bit. It is so hot and it was good, hard work, and I enjoyed every minute of it. August has just started and that means that I am done with July's on my mission and the summer is almost over.
I have become a consistent and diligent journal writer on my mission, and I am almost done with my second journal.Time is flying by and it is scaring me. Elder H told me the other day that getting close to the end of the mission is really scary. He goes home in October and I really am going to miss him a lot. I had so much fun with him and he is doing so good right now in his new area.

I love you all so much, I really am so blessed to be where I am at and doing what I am doing. If you could pray extra hard for me to help me learn spanish and teach people in spanish. I have a testimony whatever language the gospel is being preached in, it still brings the holy ghost to the hearts of the people. I have witnessed this the past few days when working amongst the spanish community, people are looking for that special thing, and we could be the answer to their prayers. Thanks for all that you do mom and dad, I am the person I am today because of our family.

Love,
Elder Loren James Miller

8/09/10
Dear Family,

It is very hot here and very humid like always and the barbeque pits full of brisket dont help!
This past week we taught a lot of people mostly in spanish, it is really hard to sometimes sit there and just be quiet and listen to elder Steagall teach it all by himself. We have a few potentials on the english side that are coming from members doing their own missionary work so we hope to have an english baptism and spanish baptism in the future. We have a spanish investigator that speaks english but wants to talk and be taught in Spanish. It is kind of hard to swallow but he is really a golden investigator, he reads the assignments we give him and he talks a lot. The wards out here are really stepping up and helping us out with splits, referrals, and just being friendly.
We are getting pretty busy and working hard out here and the ward's are very helpful. I have a feeling like I will get transferred in 4 weeks when transfers happen because it just feels like I am only supposed to be here to help get the trust back of the members. The area is such a beautiful area and there are some great people that I have met. But all my other areas I was there for atleast 6 months and I dont feel like I will be here for that long.
We work on the ranch in 90 degree weather on wednesdays for this nonmember who got our number from her neighbor who is an inactive member. It is very hot and we work until we are just drenched in sweat, and the lady we do the service for usually feeds us. We are really softening her heart through service, hopefully we can teach her something soon. I have accomplished my goal of having better studies by focusing on the needs of my investigators and the weaknesses of my teaching. I need to set some new goals for this month and I will hopefully put some good thought and prayer into setting them.

Well family this past week, I have witnessed a lot of tragedy in the homes of those in the ward. I have came to a better understanding that satan attacks the family especially the strong ones. One of the families in the ward is going through a divorce and they have 4 kids and they are converts of 10 years and the father was a Branch President a few years ago. There temple marriage was not honored and the father is a ward missionary and he is still coming to church and is helping us. But I can tell that he is going through the hardest thing ever and I know that he is going through much sorrow. We also got a call last night from an inactive member in the ward who was in the hospital who was assaulted by her husband. She wanted us to visit her but the hospital was so far away so we called the bishop. Mom and dad, can you please find a place or time this week and pray as a family all together. Pray for the families in the world in or out of the church who are struggling. I know that our family can help others and as long as we do what we know we are supposed to be doing, everything will work out.

I love you all, Be safe and remember the covenants we have made. I am safe and watched over, you will see me soon, and I will be the man I am supposed to be.

Love
Elder Loren James Miller

8-16-10
Dear Family,
The members around here are veryexcited for school to start because summer break gets a little old. The W ward is reallydoing some great things and we picked up two english speaking investigators last week. We have some spanish investigators and less actives that are progressing. This area is really moving forward and I owe it all to Heavenly Father, it is a difficult area and without hishelp, my companion and I would just go crazy. The members are really helping us out with people to teach and with a good direction. I think most of the nights this week, a member is going with us to teach or is taking us to go home teaching to some inactive families. In fact a old member, who hasnt been to church in a long long time, who's wife isa ctive, told his home teacher he wants us (missionaries) to come over and cut his grass for him. The spirit of missionary work is reallyg oing strong out here and I have to say it is all because the members are re-uniting themselves. There is a little activity on Sept. 4tht hat I have forgotten to mention to you all about. One thing Elder W did was suggest an activity for members to invite non-members to.Well the ward mission leader ( the realest texan I have ever met) took hat idea and ran with it. He has organized a bbq, I mean like this is omething that I have never seen organized before. He has been having embers sign up for items the pasttwo months to bring to the bbq. I mean there is going to a flat bed trailer size bbq pit, there is goingto be brisket, chicken, stuffed jalepeno eating contest, water melonseed spitting contest, tug of war, hay rides by tractor, pinatas, tonsand tons of food. This thing is not just some potluck, this is like aprofessional party. Members were a little hesitant at first to thisbbq, but now the bbq is going to be a huge success because throughthis the ward has re-united. There is supposed to be about 400 peopleat this bbq most of which will be non-member friends. I will send youa flyer in the mail this week, it is going to be so much fun plus alot of hype has been built into this , the stake has its eye on it.This is a big missionary opportunity that the members are reallytaking advantage of. So to answer some of the questions you asked: I am working on the bbqskills thing, it has been crazy busy out here. My spanish skills aregood, like i can understand what elder s is teaching and whatthe investigators say, its just that I cant speak that well. Also membersdont just fix a meal out here, they fix buffet, so we never go homewithout leftovers. I really hope President transfers me to a bikearea, so I can shed some pounds, it is hard in a car area to keepweight off especially in waller county.I know that HeavenlyFather has blessed me so much out here and that my mission has builtme into a man, a disciple of jesus christ. I know that our family isbeing blessed so much and that we needed this mission, it hasfortified our family.I am alsograteful for Elder W, he sent me a letter this past weektalking about how much his mission has been the best thing he has everdone. He finishes in 5 months or less, he is a friend to hold on to,and I grateful that we moved to Utah four years ago. Family, lovethe gospel and look at how many things, even little things, that aregood that has come into our lives. I will definately make sure thatevery moment counts and work my hardest. I love you all so much and do some good for others whenever there isan opportunity. I am safe, healthy, and protected, this is the lord'swork and he has course for me that I must be diligent and faithful tomaintain. I cant wait until next week!
Love Elder Loren James Miller
8/23/10
Dear Family,
This past week was a great one, a lot of success is happening in the W Ward. Elder S and I are doing really good and the members have recognized it. TheBBQ is coming here quickly and it is the talk of the county. I was outof the area for two days, because of exchanges with our zone leadersand our district leader. In fact I went back to the S Branch areafor a day and it was really weird. It felt like I went back and droveby a old house we used to live in. I was really happy to return to w though because we have a lotgoing on out here and we are busy. We are going to have a baptism in a few weeks with our investigator M, he is the son of a member who used to live in w. He islike 32 and is really spiritual and loves talking the gospel inSpanish but he does speak great english. He reads the book of mormonreading that we give him and he even does the cross references witheach verse. Also we are going to start working on some englishspeaking member referrals that are promising. This week we have a lotof appointments on both sides of the area. Also this week we have zoneconference and Elder Kikuchi is going to be speaking to us for a longtime. He has asked us a month ago to memorize the standard of truthquote by joseph smith and D&C 4. I thank you dad for always pushing usin young mens to memorize that and recite it each week. I hope youstill have it memorized dad. I really need to start losing some weight out here because we get fedso much and we are in a full car area with no gym near by. I am tryingto run each day so hopefully that will start to progress. I dontreally drink any soda anymore, mostly water that we get for free frommembers that have water purifyers. It is really really hot down hereso I be thankful for the weather up there. It is football season and Icant even imagine doing two a days in this humidity, oh man that would be crazy.I love you all that read this letter, be an example to others andbe the best you can be. I have came a long way and it is because ofthe gospel of jesus christ, nothing else has influenced me more. Thereason why we are having success in life is because of christ andbecause of our obedience to his laws not our own wants. I am having ablast and I am safe and well taken care and I can't wait to hear backfrom you next week.
Love
Elder Loren James Miller
8/30/10
Dear Family,
Well this past week we had a great opportunity to hear from anespecial witness of Christ. Elder Kikuchi came and gave a phenomenal zone conference and our mission definitely needed it. The meeting wasabout 8 hours long and we got a lot of help for our teaching and ourfinding methods. He talked about how we need to slow down in ourteaching and let the Holy Ghost be there and speak as well. He emphasized how important the story of Joseph Smith is and how we needto teach it slow and sincerely. He told us that obedience to keepingthe morning schedule is our tithing to lord so he can pour out theblessings from the windows of heaven. He told us we need to have ourown sacred grove experiences in our prayers. He also taught us aboutthe different experiences he has had in reactivating and sealingfamilies. He mentioned the families in Idaho and after zoneconference I went up to him and told him that I am from Idaho.Elder Kikuchi taught us other ways to approach people and ElderSteagall and I have tried each one since conference and they all work! The Waller ward is getting really jazzed up for this activity thisSaturday and we are going to have a little booth with informationabout what we believe. Our ward mission leader in the W ward isamazing and he is like Captain Moroni, not kidding at all. He gets thejob done and is a leader and really is restoring the W ward.Members are really doing a lot of missionary work out here by invitingtheir friends to come to the BBQ and paving the way for gospel topicsto be discussed. It is going to be weird after the BBQ, because thisall that anyone talks about out here. This past week members evenbought us groceries and have helped us with rides into C for district meeting. We live in the middle of nowhere but we aredefinitely making some noise. We have a good teaching pool ofinvestigators and tonight we are teaching someone who is prepared tobe taught. We are teaching L tonight, he is a teacher/soccer coach at W HS and a year ago he noticed something different about one of his students who are the member who introduced us to him. Thatmember gave him a book of Mormon and invited him over to the family’shouse for FHE a lot. The whole family has taken him in andfellowshipped him and he has been to the singles ward every Sunday thelast 2 months in C. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and thechurch is true and he is a great guy. So I am excited to teach in English!! Haha, by the way Idid bear my testimony of Joseph Smith in Spanish in a lesson! Crazyhuh! We are very busy this week leading up to the BBQ and also thisSaturday night we get transfer calls. I am really nervous because Ithink I might be leaving because I was in my first two areas for awhile and I just have a feeling about it. But whatever happens I love W and I don’t mind staying!I love you all and I am doing great, the lord isproviding ways for things to get going in this area. I have reallystrengthened my testimony of the first vision and the reality of it inmy life. Everything in my life that has been good comes from thegospel and Joseph Smith’s visit from the Father and the Son. Takeadvantage of the time now to study Joseph’s vision and ponder it. All is well here in Houston, I look forward to hearing from you nextweek and I pray for each one of you everyday in my sacred grove.
Love Always
Elder Loren James Miller

July

2010-07-26T10:25:00.001-07:00

July 6th, 2010
Dear Family!

This past week was pretty good, patience has been the key in this area because there was a huge problem with the missionaries out here earlier this year but then Elder W came in and white washed trained and so when he got here he started from ground zero. Elder w is getting pretty trunky, he is more trunky than elder M but he is still obedient. He is ready to go home and it kind of weird to him that his mission is over. The holiday was good, we went to a party hosted by a member who had like 30 non members there so it was pretty good. We had to be in our apartment the past three days at 730 pm.

When I get home from my mission I am going to be cooking real good haha. Everyone out in w loves to cook and they are going to teach me. They dont use any BBQ sauce out here, they just season it and smoke it in a metal barrell pits.

So I have came to a conclusion that I dont like the commercialized form of the 4th of July. I dont like fireworks, I like celebrating our free country and all that but fireworks are kind of ridiculous. They just dont do anything for me and I am glad that I am a lifeguard of some sorts.

The heat is not too bad and today we are doing service for a part-member less active family today on their property. The other person we do service for is a non member that lives across the dirt road from the place we are doing service today. We usually cut branches and help him on his property with his trees and vines. Today I think we are helping this less active member clean up horse doo doo and clean the horses or something. Teaching is okay, again we are starting from ground zero and the w ward has a lot of less actives that they need us to focus on. In the f ward they have a lot of Do not contacts and active members but we do have a less active samoan family we are working on which the dad is not a member. They are a great family and we are going to have dinner with them this week at an active members house that we set up. If the ward fellowships the dad and helps him and be his friend, I think he will get baptized in the future.

I have about 10 months left and time is flying by.

Thanks mom and dad for all that you do and I love you so very much. I am safe and fine and will be okay, I am learning a lot of things that are so essential that I couldn't get anywhere else. The gospel is true and the work in which I am a part of is special.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

July 12th, 2010
Dear Family,

I am doing great and Elder w is trunky! Haha we are doing really well and a lot of people out here are really bummed that elder wood is going home. He is a really good guy and is really converted to the work and not lazy or crazy. Patience is the key to everything, I have advice for anyone that is preparing to go on a mission, MASTER chapter 6 of PMG, which is about Christlike attributes, if you dont work on any of them then the work will be hard and miserable. Setting goals to work on a christlike attribute is something that I have done each transfer, and Heavenly Father usually gives me the best companions to work on them with. I have had some that have tested my patience, charity, faith, obedience, and hope. But they taught me how to endure in each one of those attributes and I am very grateful for that.

This past week we have been having a lot of success with the Less-active or Inactive members and are working hard to get them into the possible idea of coming back to church. We had dinner with the M family at an active members house that we set up to help fellowship the family. It was a huge success and both families are really great for each other and hopefully this will help the family fit in with the ward. Also we are working with E, he is a inactive member who's family lives in the ward and they are all active except him. He is so cool though and we are making some progress with him, for being inactive he says we can come by anytime. In fact his girlfriend who lives in the neighborhood joined the church 4 months ago and she is working on him to so he can come to church with her. E comes from a great Jamaican family and through their patience he will come back.

We had a crazy sunday school class yesterday, it is the gospel principles class for returning to activity members and investigators. But before sacrament meeting that day a member came up to us with a referral but she didnt want to bring him to church because of the gospel principles class is kind of crazy because they talk about deep doctrine and political stuff. So this member had her other family members take him to the singles ward. It is pretty sad and so we told the bishop about everything and also our ward mission leader made it clear how crazy things are getting in that class.

Besides the crazy gospel principles class, the people out here are great and there is a lot of long time members in the ward. Elder B comes home during the second week of august! it is so crazy! I remember at his farewell saying goodbye to him and telling him I wont see him for three years and now he is almost finished.

Remember Elder Kikuchi from the seventy? Well he is visiting our mission for zone conferences next month and it is pretty exciting. I remember he visited your stake up in Idaho a couple years ago right? Our mission will definately benefit from his visit, we havent had a general authority visit in almost a year. When Elder w goes home, I will staying with another set of missionaries in a ward nearby and one of them is from Nampa and the other one is really cool. So it will be exciting, but it will be weird to cover three wards and to be in a three man for a week.

Well this week is the last full week for Elder w and I hope I can be the companion that he would want to help him finish! We are having a BBQ like everyday this week because he loves brisket! We have one tommorrow with the M family! I cant wait! I love you all so much and I pray for each and everyone of you always. I am grateful for my mission and all that it has taught me about life, people, and the savior. I am reading the book of mormon for the seventh time cover to cover and I am doing it with all diligence and patience, it is such a powerful influence in my life, I cherish it. I hope you all will do the same. Be safe and love one another.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

July 19th, 2010
Dear Family!

Well I really am going to need those wet naps because tonight a member who makes the best brisket is cooking up a lot of BBQ for Elder W. Speaking of Elder W, he is doing great, he is ready to go home though! He leaves in about two days. Most chicken is smoked and I just like everything about BBQ food out here because its not heavily loaded with BBQ sauce. The people out here in waller are pretty bummed about Elder w going home and so a lot of expectations for me to fulfill because he has helped this area a lot. He has been like a breath of fresh air for me because he is mature and has a good attitude.

So this past week we ate Jamaican food, Samoan food, and Liberian food! It is crazy huh! Members are from all different parts of the globe. The M had all their Samoan family there for a BBQ for Elder W and they gave him a Lava Lava haha! Sis. M mom took a look at my second helping of the food and she said to me "Elder Miller you know how to eat" and Sis. M says to her " yeah he grew up with Samoans". The whole time I was there, I was thinking about S and all the times we had, I love the samoan people and their culture. We had a inactive Liberian old member cook us food from her country and she is really working on coming back to church. We have been also working on a family the past 5 weeks that I will not give up on until I leave this area. There is something about them that radiates future eternal family, their names are the e's, they are inactive and live down the street from us. They would come to church but sis. E never really had a testimony when she got baptized and Bro. E doesnt want to go to church alone. They have a son who is 11 I think who is not a member and they go to the catholic church because his wife feels comfortable there. 4 weeks ago Bro. E kind of shewed us out of his house because he didnt have time, and was not intesrested. Over the past few weeks we have visited them on their doorstep and this past week we stopped by later in the evening with their home teacher that they have never met because they avoid him. When we pulled up to the house, they were working on putting dirt on their driveway, so we rolled up our sleeves and worked with them that night in proselyting clothes. It was a great opportunity for their home teacher and them to get to know each other. We went by on saturday morning and helped Bro. E some more, and our relationship is really good now. Last night we stopped by and he invited us in his house and gave us a tour of some of his household projects, and he told us that we can come by anytime and he said we can teach him and his family. I know that if we keep serving them with the love of christ, they will come back and stay, not waver and go off the path.

This past week we got news about some changes to the missionary program worldwide, nothing is being replaced just some elements of the PMG is being more pushed for us to work on specifically. It is called the simplified curriculum, and last week the zone leaders and district leaders all met and had a three day training on it, its that big, it will start to be taught in the MTC in May 2011, because they want the missions to be fully going on it. Mom and dad this is an answer to my prayers because I have been worrying about my teaching skills lately and about my success as a missionary. But this church is built on continuing revelation, so this new revelation on missionary work is from God and I know the lord is helping me with this. The book of mormon is what I am going to teach out of when teaching the lessons, because it is crucial for an enduring conversion for converts. Most people know about the bible but many have no idea of the power of the book of mormon in helping people draw closer to christ.

I will take more pictures of BBQ's and tell you who my new companion is next week and I am so grateful for all the support from you guys. This work is great and I am learning such valuable lessons that a college or a job couldn't give me. This is what I am supposed to be doing and where I am needed, thanks for everything. I love you all so much, please keep praying for me and the missionaries and for your missionary work.

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

July 26th, 2010
Dear Family,

Well transfer calls came on saturday and it wasnt like the previous transfer calls where all I cared about all day was the call. I was very calm and confident with President's decisions and I did not worry about anything. So I am staying in w (not suprised!) but I am getting Elder S, he is a spanish speaking missionary so we will be doing a TEX-MEX companionship haha. This is a big blessing to the area because there is a lot of spanish people who are not members or are inactive. Elder S entered the MTC the same day I did so we will be leaving together next may, and he is from Bountiful. But I served around him in S Branch because he covered the same area but was one of the spanish elders. He is a pretty cool guy and it will be fun to try and learn a little bit of spanish from him.

This past week I said goodbye to Elder W, It was pretty hard to say bye because he was just such a cool guy. He really is enjoyable to be around and always made an awkward situation pretty funny and he was an amazing teacher! So after he left I worked mostly with the W Elders, and there area is about 20 miles from my apartment so not a lot of work got done in W. But they have a lot of great investigators and it was great to teach them. In w it is pretty slow as far as investigators but we will definately pick up with the spanish speaking missionary coming in. Also this week I had my fist encounter with Texas fire ants, we were doing service for an investigator in the other elder's ward and I was mowing the lawn and all of the sudden my ankles just felt like someone was squeezing them so tight. I looked down and there were like 20 fire aunts crawling all over my feet and legs, and oh boy they hurt so bad. It was kinda funny I guess because the other elders said I did a funny dance trying to shake them off! haha

I served with Elder H from Spanish Fork, UT. The other missionary I was with is Elder W from Nampa, Idaho and he went to nampa high school. It was great the past few days to serve with them and to get to know them and work as a trio.

Preach my gospel is a fruit of continuing revelation which our church is so blessed to have. We have the heavens open and guidance of a living prophet and he teaches us the things we need to know to be a better follower and doer of the gospel. Preach My gospel is something that will stick with my life forever, and I just could not be where I am as a missionary without it.

When I was being interview by my stake president at snow, he told me about how a mission is the best thing for a family to come closer together. I believe that this two year journey I am taking is going to be the base of my life forever and will be a journey that will be taught to our future generations because it has changed each one of our family's lives. It means the world to me to represent Jesus Christ and his church and as well to wear our family name "Miller" on my chest. THanks family, for all that you do and for the love and support you have given me, I am so well taken care of. I know that this work is true and that the news of the restoration is spreading like wildfire and that through the atonement more people will be happier in the times to come than from any other source. Keeping pressing forward and doing the best you can do! I love you and am happy to hear about all of the success and changes that are good in our lives. Cant wait till next week! Be safe!

Love your son

Elder Loren James Miller

2010-07-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

These last few letters have been so fun to read from Loren, he seems so happy, and sounds like he is LOVIN' the country life(which includes lots of bbq.)We are all a little curious to see if he comes home with a pair of cowboy boots on.I have also really loved seeing these great pics of him too!

June 28th-
Dear Family!

Waller was great this week, we are trying to get in the groove of things out here. We are working on a lot of less actives and part members out here, tracting wont get it done. My companion is great, he leaves here in 3 weeks or so and I have to learn a lot more about the area but I will be fine. It is getting hotter and hotter out here and the summer is definately here. We have been doing a lot of service out here in the heat but we are getting plenty of water so no worries.

I feel like I am breaking the word of wisdom out here, haha, by eating so much meat! We have BBQ every day and they know how to cook it out here. Its all about coals, wood, and cut out all the oxygen and you let the meats smoke. I have come to love Brisket, it is a texas thing out here, and we dont use any sauce out here because its all seasoned up while its cooking. For 4th of july we will have church and meetings then probably have dinner with a member and be in by like 7 because people can go a little bit crazy with fireworks. A tip for uncle mike and aunt sandy in Alabama, a tip to beat the heat is to drink water more than eating food, haha, it gets pretty nasty heat, also eat lots and lots of fruit, and stay away from candy or sweets.

Waller is very open and very widespread and full of cattle and horses and farming. It is pretty nice and people are very friendly and love their BBQ. Sorry to bring it up again but BBQ is the thing out here, its how people gather and get to know one another. The other night we had BBQ that was fantastic but we had it the next day too, so i hope i dont get tired of it.

The other day it hit me really hard that my mission is on the downhill and with the way things are going so fast, I will be home quick. It is already the end of june and so I am done with june's on my mission! So you want me to tell you all I can about my new area, well I have told you a lot already but yeah we dont have any investigators except in the F ward, we have a part member family we are working on. The wife and the kids are members but the dad is not, but however we did have a major breakthrough, we got him to come out and play volleyball with the elders quorum last week, something Elder wood has been working on for a couple transfers now. Bro. M (investigator) has been taught by the missionaries before and we are working with the ward to fellowship him so it would be easier to teach him with fellowship because I think that was the problem with him in his last ward he was in.

Well family all is well, I have a lot of pictures to send you and I want you to see the cool country living in Waller. So i best be fixin to do that right now haha! I love you all so very much and hope that you are making the book of mormon a priority in your daily schedule, it will improve every thing I promise! Be safe this week and I look forward to the news of next week! Also dad, is leBron with a new team yet? Hows Boise state? anything new? But you can answer those questions next week, thanks for everything family, my mission is the springboard to the rest of my life! I know that everything good that will happen to me in the future, will come from this two year service to the lord. Love you!

Love

Elder Loren James Miller

June 21st

Dear Family,

Greetings from Waller county, TX and I am so happy to know that you got the package right before Fathers day. I actually kept that hat for a long time, and I almost thought about leaving it in Spring. But I chose to do what I originally planned and send it home, I am so happy to be in the country! It is so beautiful! We cover like 4 little townsand we cover a huge but rich subdvision in the Fward. There is so much country folk mixed with humble people and lots of BBQ! Oh man I have had BBQ everyday this week, out here in waller they know how to cook some good ol brisket, sausage, pork, and chicken. In fact the ward is putting on a huge labor day weekend BBQ for the whole county basically, so the ward members can invite their friends to come to it. Whenever we work in the F ward though we bike but it is no biggy to me because biking there is so nice because its all connected with bike trails. We do service at a non-member's who is a rancher and rodeo guy and he has horses and has a ranch, it is pretty cool.

My new companion is Elder W, He is very laid back and very calm and is really experienced.He actually goes home a week early than when he is supposed to so he could go to a family reunion/ festival in his little town. So I have to learn the area in 5 weeks and get to know everyone, It will be a challenge but I will be fine. You know that question about killing off companions can be answered easily, it is because President is inspired and has been set apart by the Prophet to lead the missionaries here. Elder w is a lot of fun and I am grateful to be his last companion and to serve with him. President when making transfer decisions goes to the temple and meditates and recieves inspiration in the lord's holy house. He has several transfer meetings the last two weeks of each transfer and meets with his two assistants to decide who goes where.

So I talked to the sister missionaries who took elder m and my spots in k ward and they are doing really good. J will get baptized soon, actually right before we left J told us he will get baptized soon and the reason why he wanted to get baptized last weekend is because he wants to share his testimony and conversion with others. It was powerful to see this man have the faith to know and to want to share what he knows to be true. He told us when he makes his mind up on decisons he sticks with them. The sisters also said that they talked to A and her mom and they are going to start teaching them again and helping them out, which is great! Dad, I hope you know that I love you and that next father's day I will be there with you and celebrating and honoring you! Thanks for all that you have done, I wouldn't be here in Houston if it wasnt for you. Your a major part of who I am and I love you and miss being there and hanging out with you. Everything you have taught me has stuck with me and has been excellent help during my mission. I have 11 months left, and I want to make every minute count, and time is flying by so pretty soon I will be home.

I cancelled my gym membership and I absolutely love the ties you sent me mom! They are great and I am currently wearing one right now. The work is moving forward and I am loving my new area and I am really blessed. People out here in Waller will take care of me like the rest of my wards have.
Well I love you all soo much and I hope that you are safe and sound there. I appreciate dad that you are putting together your baptism story, I think of it as a treasure to me because of the eternal impact of your decision to get baptized. Be strong and pray as a family for missionary opportunities around you there in caldwell. Thanks for everything! I will be excited to hear back from you and I gotta go, we are fixin' to leave real quick hahaha (texan) .

Love your son

Elder Loren James Miller

June 13th
Dear Family!

Well Big Big news! I am being transferred!!!!!! I am being transferred to Waller, TX! It is pure country! I cannot wait! They are placing sisters here in the K and W wards, I am so excited to move on! It was such a big upset! Nobody thought I was going to get transferred! But I am and I am going to Waller and I am going to be with Elder Wood, who goes home at the end of July so I am "killing him off". This is good that sisters are coming in because they can probably connect with some people that My companions and I couldnt connect with.

So J didnt get baptized, So the transition with sister missionaries is good because they can probably connect with J's wife and instead of just him getting baptized it will be a whole family. J's is so golden, he told us he really wants to get baptized so he can be a better husband and father. He also told us that he wants to meet with the bishop of the ward and ask him for some counsel on his marriage and other things.

I am going to really miss some of the families in the wards I covered but I know that the time has now come for me to move on. I have seen a lot of people that have changed and become stronger and I am so excited for the future of J and other people we were working with. So there is a family in the K ward that are amazing and great missionary members, and I got really close with them over the past six months, and I am going to miss them. Their names are the Scardino family, they actually got me a going away present, History of the Church, which is an 8 volume set. She is sending to you pretty soon, so be ready for that and also I sent a box in the mail with some random stuff I dont have room for. Sister s joined the church 7 years ago and is amazing! Her mom is not a member and has been over at their house a lot when we have been there and we have definately helped her mom a lot by just talking to her about gospel things, nothing formal but just being a support to her. So there was a huge seed planted with Sis S's mom, which if she does get baptized in the future , I really want to come back and see. People's lives can change mom and dad by just being the person heavenly father wants you to be, it is really that simple.

So I have not much time to email, but I will have a lot more to right next week after my fist week in the country, I am just thrilled to go to Waller! I love you all so much, I have to go because we have to go deep deep clean our apartment for the sister missionaries who are moving in. I love my mission so much and I am blessed to be a representative of this church and of his gospel, I thank you my loving family for the support and raising me in the way that the lord would want any child to be raised. I am going to be missing some people here in Spring but change is good! Keep reading the book of mormon! It will inspire us to greater lengths and to more accomplished goals I promise!

Until next week, I love you! Be safe!

Love Elder Miller

May and June letters... a little late...sorry

2010-06-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

June 7th, 2010
Dear family,

Well I was very happy to see you got those pictures, Sis C, is a great lady and her husband of 30 plus year got baptized last august finally! They are both active and looking forward to getting sealed this fall, and she is all about missionary work and helping us out.

J is getting baptized this saturday and it will be amazing, the w ward hasnt had any baptisms since it was created two years ago. The ward leadership is starting to warm up to us missionaries, but I think the underlying problem is still that there is no connection between us and the leadership, no trust or coordination. But oh well, we have worked our hardest for the ward and we hope they can welcome j with open arms. We stopped by R and taught him and he read the Restoration pamphlet and he said that he is really interested and wants to see the pictures of the twelve apostles we have today because he thinks its fascinating that there is twelve apostles again today.

The two sisters are completely out of the picture and I think that it is just going to be one of those things where we have planted a garden basically and in a few years maybe someone will go through the garden and find treasure. But it is pretty sad but we have to move forward and keep finding people.

Transfers are this weekend, well we find out what is happening with transfers, I think I will stay here for another transfer. I really dont mind staying at all.
We have a baptism June 19th in the K ward, it is m, she is 16 and her parents wouldnt let her get baptized till she is sixteen. She is golden, she was taught in December and just when I first got here. But we retaught her the past month and her parents are not interested in the gospel at all. She has read the book of mormon like 5 times and she goes to mutual every week and she has gone to church the past 9 months consistently. She is so excited and happy, a family in the ward that lives down the street and has brought her to us and to the church.

Family I love you and appreciate all that you do for me and helping me be here on my mission. Heavenly father is blessing us so much and I know that things will all work out for the good.

Love

your son
Elder Loren James Miller

June 1st 2010
Dear Family,

It is good to get the news from back home! I am happy that all is well in Idaho and Washington. This week has been and up and down week because some changes made in our daily routine.

Its June 1st today and I cant believe I have made it this far, one year to go and a lot more amazing experiences left. The priesthood fireside topic is great, that evil among us is creating divorces and bad relationships and is weakening the faith of many. Tatoos, is something that I dont understand, our investigator J has some tatoos but he is 35 and got them at 18. He told us the other day he regrets getting them and tries to cover them up as much as possible because he doesnt want his children to get them.

Speaking of J, the man is incredible, it is such a blessing to know him and his faith. He told us last week that he has lost friends and clients because of his choice to get baptized June 12. But he does not let that phase him, he is a student and a great man of obedience. He is all about obedience, that principle is the first law of heaven according to Jefferey R. Holland. So he will be a great addition to the fold of god.It is hot here in Houston! I bought a camelpack water bladder for my backpack at walmart so that will be good for the work.

This past week I had a powerful experience that solidified my testimony of the book of mormon even more. A month ago the spanish missionaries found some potentials in a trailer park and they called us and invited us to go and help one of the potentials with service on his yard. The potential's name is R and he is a lonely old man and has liver cancer. His heart was softened by the weekly efforts of spanish missionaries and us and became interested in hearing our message. So Elder M and I went over and talked to him for 45 minutes and he was so depressed and lonesome. It got to a point where he said he doesnt feel like he wants to live anymore and he was in tears. Elder M and I bore testimony of the plan of salvation and of God's purpose for each and everyone of us. I turned and got a book of mormon out of my bag and gave it to R. I told him to read this and pray about it, and I bore my testimony of the book to him. We left that day not knowing what would come from our invitation to read the book of mormon to him. This past week the spanish missionaries called us and told us that R read the first part of 1st Nephi and is interested in coming to church. On sunday R came to church and he was happy and he sat by a former senior missionary who lives here in houston, named elder C who sat by him in Sacrament meeting, He told Elder c this "if it wasnt for those 4 missionaries and this church, I wouldn't be here today!"

The gospel of jesus christ saves lives, the book of mormon is the difference maker in the work. This man was very depressed and he has completely turned his life around. It was amazing!

Family, Thanks for all that you do and I so privileged to represent the lord for two years and help him bring his children return to live with him. Continue living the gospel and being the example to others and never give up hope. I love you all and pray that you have a great week. Be Safe!

2 Ne. 4:5
Love

Elder Loren James Miller

May 24th, 2010
Dear Family,

I loved the pictures you sent me of stellar and dad on the tractor and lexie looks a whole lot older than a year ago. So this week was a very long and up and down week, we had 11 appointments fall through! But we are improving a lot more as far as ward unity and our companionship's unity.

It seems as though when we are busy, life seems to be much smoother and when things are slow, life gets kind of boring.
Our investigator pool is pretty low but we are going to try and get some more by the end of this week. Members are really working hard and we are really working hard so I know something will happen. We had stake conference this past weekend and J came to stake conference and we sat in the front row. It was probably the best stake conference I have ever been to, J said at the end that " this has solidified my decision to get baptized". At the end of stake conference President and Sister hansen, the klein stake presidency, and a number of members who dont even know who he is came up and shook his hands and said thanks for coming. J is doing amazing! The other day he called us to return our phone call because we couldnt get a hold of him all week! He quit tobacco and tea and we havent even taught the word of wisdom yet!

Mom and dad can you compile like a summary of dad's journey to being a member of the church. I just want to know what the full story is, what his thoughts were, what his religious background was before he joined the church. I just have thought a lot about him when I teach investigators because I think of how he was baptized and how that effected me being the missionary I am today.

So I had a great opportunity to go to a Sealing of a family in the Kleinwood ward this past saturday. They invited us, we visit them once in a while the past months and helped them prepare for the temple a little bit. The husband has been a member his whole life but was inactive for a long time, his wife was found by Elder W two and half years ago. Elder W knocked on her door, and they werent married at the time, but they were engaged. he was an inactive in the spanish ward. So Elder w got transferred and Elder B came in and taught her and baptized her two years ago. They are both very very active and they have a nine month old baby. Elder b came back with his parents to go to the sealing and he came to our apartment the other day and visited us. I will send you a picture of me and him next week or so. It was so amazing to be at that sealing, it was just picture perfect, that is what every missionary's goal should be, seeing a family be sealed in the temple. It was such an amazing experience!

We tract a lot now and we live in the strongest part of our mission as far as activity wise and so that brings a lot of opposition. When we tract, elder m gets all the great nice people who say thanks but were good in a gentle way. When I knock on the door I get Anti people who just go crazy on us! haha but I had a cool experience the other day, I knocked on the door of Messianic Rhabbi (I dont understand why he said he was jewish). So he said he knew our church and that he is good with his church and that we were wrong with the book of mormon. he said that I need to read Revelations 22:19, he quoted it. I just knew in my mind this guy has no idea about the bible, they didnt have a bible compiled in that time period. So i asked him if he read the book of mormon and he said a piece of it but thats all. I said back to him sir how can that be fair to say that the book of mormon is not true if you have not read it and prayed about it. He just said I am sure its a cute story with all about Joseph Smith. So I then bore down with pure testimony against him and said sir i know that the book of mormon is true and by the power of the holy ghost I have gained that witness that it is true and nobody can take that away from me. He basically shut down and said see you later and shut the door. I was like nephi and slayed laban, spiritually speaking not really physically.

The best thing I did to read the book of mormon, was have a study journal to re-write whats happening in the chapter in my own words and right down key points on that page in the study journal. Also highlight everything about christ in red! read the book of mormon for 30 minutes a day and things will get better. I am half way done with the old testament and I have the doctrine and covenants then I am done with the standard works.

Well family, I love each and everyone of you so much and I am seeing a lot of great things happening in the lives of individuals. Remember how powerful the gospel is and never forget that its not about how much knowledge you have, its about the testimony you nourish each day. I love you all so much, I am doing my best and representing our family well and hope that your love of the gospel of jesus christ will spread throughout family, friends, and neighbors. Be safe. Love you

Love

Elder Loren James Miller
May 17th 2010
Dear Family!

Well this week was a great week because I hit my year mark.
We celebrated my year mark with 3 of my MTC district members and it was so weird to look back and see how far we have all come. We went to Fudruckers and talked and had some good burgers, I am not sure if it is Holten meat burgers but still they are really good.
We are teaching a 15 year old girl named M and she has been going to church for a year but her parents wont let her get baptized till she is 16. She is golden and has read the book of mormon 5 times, she is getting baptized june 19. Our appointment with her the other night was good because we had an ex mission president go teaching with us.
I have learned on my mission that I need to be a leader and not just wait for others to do stuff. Taking the lead and being the one who sets the pace for the day is something that I have had to step up and do. But I do it with love and diligence for the work and for my companions. We also gave J a baptismal date for june 12 and his wife will be hard to get a hold of to teach. That is what we are doing is trying to set up appointments so his wife could be there. But he is doing great and doesnt have any problems with word of wisdom, tithing or other commandments. He reads the book of mormon with his heart and wants to know it is true.

It is getting pretty dang hot here and very humid, we went tracting in some trailer parks and had some fun doing that the other day. It was fun because I felt like I was on that TV show my big fat redneck wedding. But although we didnt find any investigators we still talked to a lot of funny people that didnt have any teeth! haha YeEEHAW! So anyhow we are working hard and doing our best to help both wards out and the things we discussed on Mothers day was good conversation.

I was thinking about the past year of my mission and wonder this is the fastest thing I have ever been a part of, I made it out a year! It is truly weird to think I have been out a year, I only have a year left but they say that the second year goes by faster. I am excited for the summertime though because summer is better time for people because school is out and more flexibility.

Well I love you mom and dad, lexie and emily, and everyone who reads this email so very much. I thank heavenly father for the support that he has given each one of us through this year in Houston. I still got a year but I need to savor every moment of it and keep on having faith in the lord jesus christ and be persistent. I have a testimony of the priesthood power and the great opportunity to hold it and to know of the restored gospel. I have a testimony of the book of mormon, it enlarges our memory of the saviors ministry and his infinite love for us. Please keep going strong, we have came a long way as a family and we have more to go, just "remember him" in all the hard times, when giving up is tempting, "remember him". I love you all and I am safe and sound and doing great things!

Love always

Elder Loren James Miller

May 10th 2010
Dear Family,

It was a very good day yesterday because of our great conversation on the phone. I hope you know that I am safe and sound, that I am in the lord's hands.

I was so thrilled to to talk to Stellar yesterday because it was so different to hear him talk and make sentences and not be a little baby anymore. It is great to talk to all of you and have a minute or two with each of you. Just think two more phone calls and my mission is over! But lets focus on the now, haha, so we got a phone call earlier today and it was J and he wants us to teach his wife this week. His wife came with him to church yesterday and she didnt understand the sacrament meeting organization and about how we dont use the bible mainly. So J wants us to bring a sister along with us to teach him and his wife. I have a good feeling about this, it is a great opportunity to bring in a family in to the fold.

So ways that you can be a missionary is pretty simple, I would tell you ways to do it but I will give you talks to read to help you. Search these on the church website:
Dallin H. Oaks, “Sharing the Gospel,”
Gordon B. Hinckley, “Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,”
Don R. Clarke, “Learning to Share the Gospel,”

Just know this mom, you can be a member missionary through your example and just being a friend who takes an interest in others.
Well family, I have a sure foundation of testimony that is built upon the savior, jesus christ. Remember to be grateful for the blessings, and know they you are worthy of them by the power of the holy ghost. I am loving my time here in Houston and cant wait to move forward to the next day to teach and to help others finding better faith in christ. I love you all so very much, Thank you for all that you do! Be safe, I love you all!

Love
Elder Loren J. Miller
May 3rd 2010
Dear Family!

Well the transfer news has come and gone! I am staying put with Elder M, I will be "killing him off" because this is his last transfer. I really thought I was going to get transferred but it is all good, I love the area and we work well together. This week was pretty rocky because I got the flu for two days and so we didnt teach a lot this week. K and her family are not on good terms right now so we couldnt get a baptismal interview for A and her, so their baptism is being postponed. It is completely different this week, its like they fell off of the face of the earth. We are going to be patient and I know they will be baptized! We had some great appointments that fell through but it is all good, the trials we face in the mission will lead us to success.

It is already May! I cant believe that in 10 days I hit my year mark! I cant believe it! Really time is flying by because of all the work that is involved and the dedication that is needed. The mission is hard! I am not going to hold back anything, if one is not prepared for this two year journey than it will be a long long long road. I have been blessed with great people to teach and to work with, but difficult weeks are in there too! But overall I love my mission and I love being a missionary and cant wait to wake up and do the lords work each day!

I did need new shoes but that was taken care by a great family in my area. They have a son on his mission who is the same size as me and there is another member in the ward who is quite wealthy that gave their son a bunch of suits and shoes before he left and he didnt take some with him. So the members last night show me some of these shoes and the ones they gave me are custom italian brown shoes that are way good! I am so happy that it all worked out!

This week is mothers day! I am so honored mom to have you as my mom and I am so blessed to know of great mothers in our family. I love you mom so very much! I hope you have a great week and I hope that you will be safe. Dad thanks for your emails! And yes a mission does trasform one to become a man from a boy. I look and feel different sometimes but I still am the son you raised! I love the lord and his gospel and I am not afraid to share it with those that need it! I cant wait to talk to you all on the phone this weekend! I will call on sunday around 5 o clock your time or so okay! so be alert and I will try to call dads phone! Thanks for the great support and love you all give me and I can feel it everyday as I wear the saviors name and our last name. I will save the rest for this weekend! I cant wait to talk! This is 2 out of 4 phone calls so its the halfway point! I am glad you all enjoyed the pictures! I will have more as soon as more things happen, sorry about the lack of information but being sick does damper the work from the week. I love you all!

Love Elder Loren James MIller

2010-04-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, It makes me so happy inside to read my brothers last few letters, because he is so happy! He is doing awesome and he is making a difference in people lives, and I can tell people are enjoying him. I really enjoyed the story of him talking to the man in his driveway in the April 26th letter.He sure has guts! Cant wait to read about what happens to him this week in his next letter. And I am really looking forward to Mothers Day when he will call home.
April 5th,
Dear Family,
Well it is gettin humid here in Spring, Texas. Conference is done, it was a suprising conference because of the reoccuring theme of the importance of teaching the gospel in the home. I got the easter stuff in the mail! I love the CD, it is perfect! We had a hard week of tracting and walking, we are working hard to find some investigators. Elder M and I are getting along great, he is a very seasoned missionary but he isnt lazy or trunky.
I can't believe I am almost 20 years old and I remember when I turned 12 and thinking how old I was then. But wow, 20 is a big number out of the teens and into young adult hood. I am very happy for the 20 years I have lived through, it has been a joy to grow up in the places where we lived and be around the people we were around.
Conferene was pretty powerful especially, Elder Neil L. Andersens talk and also Elder Holland did it again. Conference flew by way fast and I think it will be interesting to read them again next month and see what I missed. So in between sessions on sunday we had lunch with the Deaf Branch in our stake/zone. They had a group of like 8 deaf members and the two ASL missionaries and the Branch president and his wife. It was a lot of fun, I am learning sign language pretty good with the exposure to the ASL program. I love the k ward and I love the area. The members are very strong and active in this area, probably because we are so close to the temple. But yeah, I am turning into a gardener because of all the gardening experience on the temple grounds, its really fun service to do.

So the other day at ward coordination in windrose, our ward mission leader who has gone from unsure to solid in his attitude of his calling, he has came along way. He used to be very doubtful with his calling and now he has completely changed into someone who wants missionary work to be done the right way. at the end of coordination, he showed us the mormon message off of LDS.org, called HE LIVES! its a 2 minute movie that is powerful. I actually cried at the end because of the spiritual power it has, I would encourage you to send that movie clip to all those who need that little extra push to help them have a better day. The ward mission leader was in tears and couldnt even speak, he has a very strong testimony of the savior jesus christ.

Well mom and dad and family, I love you all very much and I hope that you have a great week, remember to be patient and diligent and remember the savior. I am having a blast on my mission, I am doing all I can to get the most out of my journey of bringing souls unto the lord.

Be safe and pray always

Love Elder Loren James Miller

April 12th-
Dear Family,

Well this week has been really great! We have a lot of potentials that we are trying to put into position of investigating. The weather was great! We are working really hard to improve the area and are putting together some programs with the wards to improve missionary work.

The work is kind of slow, but missionary work comes in cycles, for like 6 months there will be a lot of progress, then when those investigators get baptized, the work is in reloading mode of finding and member work. K and A are doing really good, keona didnt make it to church because of work:( but its been hard to get an appointment with them. We are going to call them and set something up. They are great young women, they are both strong and are developing great relationships with the ward. They have a date for may 1st, we got a few things to teach them, but we are working hard to do the best we can to prepare them! We tract a lot and actually found an investigator who we are teaching again on wednesday, we will see how it goes. I forgot to tell you that in one of my wards, a second quorum of the seventy member has his home in our ward. He lives in Brazil on assignment but he raised all of his kids in our area. He came and spoke at stake priesthood meeting two sundays ago, and he came to the kleinwood ward meetings as well. I met him and shook his hand! Well anyway we ate dinner at his house yesterday with his wife and one of his sons and his family that is staying at the house. It was really cool to talk to them about their calling in Brazil and telling us stories about traveling around and doing work for the lord.

Well, my big 20th birthday is happening this friday and I am honestly excited and cant wait but still it will be weird. I am fine with it, Houston is my home for right now, and yeah I was really bored at SNOW on my birthday. I will try and send some pictures in the next week or two because we take pictures at the temple mostly and I will send those in a few weeks okay? Thank you for sending the package, I cant wait to get it, we are going today to the mall and getting some new pants and socks, and a new white long sleeve shirt. Thank you mom and dad for all the support!
Well mom and dad thanks for the 20 years, there are so much more ahead! 11 months are down and 13 left! man time is flying by when your having the time of your life. take advantage of the gospel and study, work, pray, and ponder what you know and what you need to know. I know the savior lives and that each of us has a divine calling in this life to be the person heavenly father needs us to be. I love my heavenly father and the redeemer, I know that the book of mormon is the word of god, I have found joy in my journey from the witness of jesus christ it proclaims. I hope all is well, never forget what you know and what you can do for others. Be safe, I love you all!

Love
Elder Loren James Miller

April 26th-
Dear Family!

Well this week was probably one of the most explosive weeks in my mission. The work is booming in our area because of all the hard work and tracting we put in. We have 4 people with baptismal dates at the end of the week, also we received 6 member referrals from the K ward council. We had a guy show up to church with his less active girlfriend who wants to investigate and change his life and he is solid. We got two new investigators and taught the standard 20 lessons that we are suppose to teach week. The work is just going so well and I owe it all to my heavenly father for the blessings of this gospel. We are getting members excited, we are having fun, and we are sweating out the days. It is getting pretty hot but its all good when we are teaching like crazy. Elder M and I are doing so good in this area, we definately have heavens help.
We had interviews this past week and it was pretty good, mine was a really long one, and President was very helpful. I have a great love for President H, I dont know if I would still be out here if it wasnt for his counsel and instruction over the past 11 months. He told me how much I have changed and how I am completely different missionary. He says that I have a lot of good leadership skills and that my companion said a lot of good things about me. I definately believe that there is a purpose for President H being my mission president, he is called of god and we fit right together. This week is transfer announcements, honestly I have no idea what is going to happen. Either I stay in a great area and be the last companion to elder M before he goes home or I go somewhere else where the lord needs me.

So we were tracting the other day and we walk up the sidewalk with a RM who was helping us. And we see an old guy reading a book and we talked to him and invited him to learn and he started off talking to us about what Mitt romney said in a debate. He was talking about Mitt romney saying that mormons are christians and how that ruined his presidential campaign. Then he just went off on us, saying how we are trying to be like the rest of the churches and trying to compete with other churches for attention. . Then he got on the topic about how we are wishy washy type of religion, because of the blacks and the priesthood thing. Then the spirit helped me put an end to it. I said exscuse me sir, can I say something, the whole conversation stops. Then I said to him " Sir, I cant feel the spirit being here in your driveway, if you dont mind I am going to move on". So I walked away down the driveway and my companion and the RM were shocked. Family, I have to say when there is a lot of good there is a lot of opposition. People dont like us and dont believe we are christians. It is shocking, but it is definately a sign of an apostasy actually occuring in the history of time.

We got news that K and A want there baptism to be on the 8th of May not may 1st. It is all good with me as long as they are baptized and recieve the holy ghost. J is going to get baptized may 22, but he didnt come to church yesterday so we will have to see.
This week was amazing and now this next week we will put our shoulder to the wheel and find more people to teach. Thanks family for all that you do, I love you and miss you so much. Be safe and read the book of mormon, it is the great harvesting tool for us. I am so happy where I am and I am excited to be the person I am today. But I know I am not perfect, I must always be improving and work towards being a better servant because the gospel helps be the person that Heavenly father has designed for us to be. I will keep you all in my prayers! Thanks for everything! Love always!

Love your missionary

Elder Loren James Miller

2010-03-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

March 22nd
Dear Family,

Well transfer news was delivered and some big news, I am staying and Elder H is leaving. Elder H is going to be a district leader somewhere else.I am staying and getting Elder T, he has only been out for 3 months and I will be his second companion, which means I am going to be senior companion and I am greeny breaking him. Greeny breaking means to be the second companion to someone and make them not a greeny anymore. I have no idea who Elder T is because he is coming from College Station, and that area is like 1 1/2 hours away from here. It will be a lot of stress but it will be worth it totally! I am really going to miss Elder H,but he is needed and will do a great job.

So last week was a big week for us! We taught two teenage girls who are friends with some youth in the W ward and they are totally golden! Their names are K and A, they are sisters and a member who is a senior in high school who is in some after school stuff with them read the whole lessons of PMG to them and gave them a book of mormon before we even met them. So a few days later we taught them again, but the night before we got a call from our zone leaders saying that they are going to help us out with something. We were thinking that we were getting some supplies or something but, they said that President H is going to go teaching with us to the second appointment with K and A! So President H called us and we went teaching with him to the girls' house. Oh man, it was an incredible lesson, I extended the Baptism date for the end of april to the girls. They are so committed to the gospel its incredible! This will be the first baptism in the W ward's two year history! It is crazy! We have been working so hard and we got two solid investigators!

So after the appointment, President was praising us for our teaching and I was like oh man this is different! Haha, but the other day we went to a funeral of a Ward Mission leader in one of the wards around us who owns a BBQ restraunt in our area, he was incredible man, he died on the golf course which is his favorite thing to do. He even taught President Eyring a few years ago how to golf,and he went with his ward's missionaries to teach a lot of investigators and he would always convert them by his powerful teaching and testimony. He is a convert of like 40 years I think, he loved the gospel and thats all he talked about on the golf course, he love to work in the temple, he was 100 percent home teaching his whole life. He even went to his families' childrens baseball games and different events in their lives. He was probably the best member missionary and he loved to feed the whole mission during zone conferences and other things. It was a huge blow to this mission and the C ward. He will be truly missed, he gave himself to the lord and I know now that he is definately teaching others on the other side of the veil the missionary lessons.

We got a ride with President H to the funeral and afterwards we were getting in the car to go back home. President puts his arm around my shoulder and like kind of puts me in a headlock and is like Elder I just love teaching with you. I feel that president knows me so much better than before because of that teaching moment we had.

Well I am really happy that your trip was great! You are SOOOOO lucky to go to washington, give the babies hugs and kisses. I truly miss them very much! Well mom and dad I love you so so much and dad happy birthday and I love you. You are my best friend and I look forward to the day I return and we can do the things we use to do. Mom, time is flying by but your baby boy is doing great, I am safe and healthy. The lord watches over me and protect me because I love the work at which I am doing. I cant wait to help Elder T grow up more in the mission, because I have to be the example now and be the leader. I love the book of mormon and I love the the savior and that gives me the desire to put my shoulder to the wheel and push along. Mom and Dad thanks for supporting me throughout my mission and helping me choose the best I can be. I love you all, Lexie be strong and keep being a good girl and helping mom and dad. Travel safe and pray always

Love
Elder Loren James Miller

March 15th
Dear Family!

Well weeks are like days here now, the weather is beautiful and things are going up. This week we have two investigators in the w ward that we are teaching! The w ward is only two years old and they have never had a convert baptism! We are trying to break that drought and help the ward be strengthen with missionary opportunities. I am blessed to be here in Texas, it is truly a beautiful state!

I am at 10 months in the mission and I have grown up a lot! President H said to me in interviews last week that I have gone from boy to man over the past few months. I have really seen that huge improvement in attitude, christlike attributes, work ethic, and obedience.

Ether chapter 9 is good! The whole book of ether is amazing, the Jaredite record is so interesting to learn about. In Mosiah they talk about it and how it was found. Ether chapter 12 is truly an amazing chapter and it is perfect to gain insight on faith, humility, and patience.
The gospel changes lives for the better, it is life altering and it improves the pathway to heaven and makes it understandable. The gospel principles book holds topics that basically explain salvation all together. Reading the book of mormon lately, I have found that the lord keeps his promises and the prophets truly have the revelation from god. I don't know where the members of this church would be without the priesthood keys and revelation to guide the church. A prophet is crucial for each one of us, each one of them have a personal touch or meaningful example to us. I am so excited for conference as well, I really cant wait for the necessary words to improve our daily lives.

Transfer news will come this coming saturday night and I am so nervous for it. I have a feeling that Elder h is going to be transferred! I have really enjoyed serving with him, he has taught me a lot and he is a true example of overcoming the world and following christ. We work well together and do all we can to improve our areas and to help people build their faith in christ. He probably has been my favorite companion so far, he has been such a blessing to me.

Also I have stopped my snoring! So my companion has been struggling with sleeping because he wakes up and then cant go back to sleep because I snore. So I finally got him to admit it was me that was causing the problem. So I said it is all good I can fix it. So i went to the walgreens and got some breathing strip things. Also I got these homeopathic pill things called snorestop, they work! My companion has been getting so much sleep, it is incredible!

Well mom and dad and family, I love you so much and I am so blessed to be a representative of Jesus Christ. To bear his name when teaching people and to hold the priesthood. I love my mission and I have truly lost myself in the work and have improved so much. I have a sure foundation that Heavenly father knows each one of us by our desires and our hearts. He will prepare the way through christ if we first love and serve him sincerely. I know that the book of mormon is not just some other scripture, its the word of god for our day. Never take it for granted. Things will get better for each one of us as long as we diligently serve the lord with a humble heart. I love you all so very very much and never forget that!

Be safe and follow christ, our redeemer.

Love always

Elder Loren James Miller

March 8th-

Dear Family!
I am doing great here, we are working very hard and are doing all we can to find people to teach. We have been tracting a lot lately and are doing all we can. Elder H is great. I have learned so much from him. He tells me all of the time that I am probably one of the most dedicated missionaries and righteous missionaries. I would have to say that it might be true but I did not get the way I am from just me. I have truly had heavens help through obedience and sincerity of the calling which I have.

Isn't the book of mormon amazing? Everyday I am studying it so hard, I love it, and I have found that in comparison to the bible I feel more of the truth that makes sense. I love the story of Alma and Amulek, and also the career and person that Captain moroni was. I love the scriptures, as I make them more apart of my life each day in my mission, I see myself transforming into the person I need to be. Sorry, I dont really know what the wards are doing for humanitarian, haha, we are just so caught up in the missionary work in the ward!

So we have had some interesting experiences tracting and knocking doors last week. We have been called out, slammed, laughed at, argued with, yelled at, cut off in sentence, and we still have been blessed. We received two referrals from members yesterday after a long week of hard tracting, and it all paid off! I am so happy because I know the faith we exercised was just enough for heavenly father to bless us with teaching opportunities. We actually went to a less-active's house and knocked on their door and they werent home so we decided to knock the next five doors next to them. Well the first door we knocked on, and it opened and this lady invited us in and she and her husband listened to the first lesson. She is friends with a strong member of the ward and the member told her recently that she should let us in if we ever knock on her door. It was kind of funny, but it showed me that the ward members have been doing missionary work by opening their mouths and engaging in gospel conversations. We gave this couple the challenge to read and pray from the book of mormon. As soon as we extended the committment, she said to us well we go to his church pointing to the husband. Her husband is catholic, and the member later told us that they are not really active at all in the catholic church. It is just funnny! haha but it was a great testimony builder of courage and doing the work regardless of the outcome.

You know conferene is is in like 3 weeks and I am so flippin excited! haha, I am trying to lose weight by eating better which I totally am and eating less salt foods and drinking plenty of water. I have a great companion who supports me in my dieting and exercising. I am hoping tto get down to atleast 215 by the time I go home in 14 months! I am at 245 but I know that I am not just a michelin man or a blob you know? I have been doing just straight cardio machines for 50 to 60 minutes every morning, like elipticial,stairmaster,and cycling. I hope that I shed some pounds, but members make it tough with the good food they feed us with!

Well I am getting pretty nervous lately, because in two weeks is when we find out what the next transfer cycle looks like. I have a feeling like I am getting transferred to a new area or something. I feel that the lord has special purposes for me being in certain areas at certain length but who knows. Elder H and I could stay together for another one which I would love. But whatever the lord asks I do. I am so happy and I know that we are eternally blessed for the sacrifices and submission we make to the lord. I testify that the heavens are opened and we have a living prophet on this earth and what a mouth piece of the lord he is. One of the twelve apostles is coming to houston to see how the missionary work is going, its L.Tom Perry. I dont know if we will see him but I know that he is one of the special witnessses of christ. I love the lord and this work, I feel like my course in life is set up by how much I work and put into this effort. Thanks mom and dad for the sacrifice you make to have me be out here and for the years prior of giving up things to help me. I love you all so much! Thanks for being YOU! The gospel is the way and there is no other way that is going to get us the true happiness we seek than what has been restored. I am so honored to be your son.

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

March 1st-
Dear Mom and Dad,

Well it is already march 1st of 2010, and time is flying by, first and foremost, Happy Birthday mom! Something should be in the mail soon ok? This past week we had a lot of downs and a lot of ups, we had 9 appointments fall through and that caused a lot of frustration but, it was all good. On friday night, the k ward had a chili cook off, which the ward brought 13 non members! That totally made up for the 9 appointments, I am most happy when I see the members being missionaries themselves, I enjoy their success! We will see what happens with those people that came to the ward activity, but I did ride my bike the other day and it was pretty nice, my bike is doing great. The weather is great here and it is in the 60s and sometimes it changes here and there but it is all good.

So members feed us every night, we are pretty used to being taking care for meals at dinner time. But on friday, our district of 8 missionaries went to a mongolian grill type place and had a blast after district meeting. Right before we were getting ready to finish our meal, the waitress comes up to us and says that the lady who just left paid for our whole bill. It was so cool, we never saw the lady or talked to her but she definately helped us out a lot. We have a lot of potential investigators in our area, but there is something always holding us back from teaching them, like the member that referred us to them cant make up a time to have us over to teach the person or they never call us back or anything.

I am grateful for my obedience to you mom and dad, for the decisions that I made because of you taking me to church every week. The gospel has affected every single decision I have made in my life. I am grateful I have a testimony and I have such a knowledge of the restored gospel of jesus christ.

Transfers are March 23rd, so we are at halfway, we will find out on the 20th, I have no idea whats going to happened. I love K ward and the w ward. This area is so cool and its way fun to be in, but who knows what is going to happen. President h is inspired and I know that where ever he sends me, it is an assignment from the lord. It would be fun to serve in College Station, home of Texas A&M but who knows. I am going to go on a diet and try and lose a lot of weight, thats the one thing I do know.

Well this past zone conference we talked about faith, President h said that the thing that measures our faith is our obedience. The more obedient we are the greater faith we have, we also talked about using faith in finding people. Zone conference was really amazing, I feel like my faith has increased tremendously in the past two months. Obedience is easy if you get in the habit of doing things that are asked of you and don't think about it or analyze it. Faith is an action word and I think the more we exercise gospel principles in our life, faith will sky rocket.

Well Mom and Dad, thanks for all that you do, thanks for helping me get to the point of where I am at in my life. I have been blessed so much because of the things that the lord has commanded. I testify to you that the savior has done it all for us, if we have faith to do everything his way then the blessings will come. If we are patient and are humble we can do amazing things. I love you all so very very much! Happy Birthday mom and be safe everyone!

Love always

Elder Loren James Miller

2010-02-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Here is Elder Miller and his companion. I was so excited to read his emails the last two weeks, he has been so happy.I have felt that he seems comfortable in his role as a missionary and as an independant adult. I have enjoyed seeing some of his sense of humor through is last few letters. I think up until now he has been adjusting and I think this new area he is in is allowing him to blossom. I am so grateful for the members feeding my brother too, it made me so happy that they have members feeding them all month! I am so proud of him and am grateful for his example and strength. Oh and I also think it is hilarious to read about him getting pulled over AGAIN! and this time for LOITERING!?

Feb.21st-
Dear Mom,

I am doing great, things are really looking up here in this area which I am serving in. But we got a call from the Assistants last week saying that they are probably taking our car away at the end of the transfer. Which is kind of a weird idea because we cover two wards and the other ward is 5 miles from our apartment.We will see what happens, I really love my area, it has been a blessing to serve here. Elder H is doing really good, I have really enjoyed him the past two months and he is such a great kid. The baptism was amazing, we used the chapel because a lot of high schoolers came to it, and there was two musical numbers. N's family came and it was exciting to see them there and take in a new experience of a baptism.

I absolutely loved looking at the pictures of the babies, they are so big! I feel like I am missing out on a lot but I know that there is so much more time in the future for me to be a part of their lives.

This past week we have spent a lot of time finding, we need more people to teach and our areas have been tracted out so many times. They are considerably small areas too, but still we are still trying to find people because it shows that we are diligent in finding the prepared ones. Yeah about god talking to prophets, he spoke to adam in the garden and gave him instruction. He also taught moses as well and I would have you look up in the bible dictionary about prophets or dispensation. It is interesting how crucial a prophet has been in the history of mankind. I have not receieved my priesthood lineage at all! I am pretty frustrated because it has been months, but I will figure it out, I will email back.

But anyhow, I am blessed mom to have a great family back at home and to know you are immersing yourself in the things we all should be doing. The scriptures are the words of god to us and never take them for granted. I am blessed to serve a mission and to be on the lord's errand. I testify to you and to all that might read this that Jesus christ is the savior and our redeemer and that we should be the example to others so that they might know of him. I love you mom so very much and I thank you for all the time and money you have spent helping me become who I am today.

Love Always
Your son
Elder Loren James Miller

Feb.15th-

Dear Family,
What an exciting email that I am replying to, a lot of big things are happening in our families. It did not snow here, I really cant wait for the sun to shine more here though. Well I really am so happy about that Valentines day package, it was very creative and I will find a night when we have time to make it. The next month and a half we have dinner with a member every night so it will be probably a lunch thing. But seriously thank you so much for the package and I will definately enjoy it.

I hit 9 months on saturday and boy it is going by so fast, you are absolutely right about that dad, those who are not totally invested or lost in the work will have a slow time. It is all about the attitude and testimony you have of christ that makes you want to keep going and do everything the right way. My companion and I get along great.

So I got pulled over last thursday night, it was weird, we had a dinner appointment and we parked across the street from the house. We got done with dinner and we went out to our car and we sat in the car and listened to a voicemail. After we got done we drove up the street and I stopped and then I drove more and forgot to turn on a street so the street I was currently on turned into a culdasac. We did a turn around in the culdasac and saw that those cop lights were flashing me and so I parked. The cop came up to me and asked me if I was lost and I told him that I am a little bit newer to the area. He told me that I looked suspicious and that I was loitering the neighborhood and didnt not completely stop at a stop sign. He saw my drivers license and told me about how he is only giving me a warning. He told me that he was just trying to protect the neighborhood and that he doesnt want us to go driving around like we are suspicious. I told him "sir, we are on the Lord's errand, we do not waste his time". He then kind of got a little humbled and said have a good evening. I might have been out of line on my comment to him but he was a little bit ridiculous about the loitering thing being that I wasnt speeding or runnning into things and that I am a missionary from our church. But oh well, thats how bad it is in the world, not a lot of people know that Christs church is on the earth and that he has young men serving him.

We are doing pretty good, N's baptism is this saturday and I am so excited and he is just golden and ready to be baptized. I love the area I am in because of the great members who are helping us out so much, the other night a member gave us 80 dollars worth of groceries, and so we didnt have to go grocery shopping today! YAY! The work is moving forward and the members are the reason for that.

Thank you mom and dad and lexie and emily for all that you have done, I love you all so much! I am so grateful that you are all happy and doing the best you can and are doing it the right way. Thanks for helping me get on a mission and doing what I NEED to be doing, this is the best experience I have ever had. I love you all and testify to you that god lives and that his son is the redeemer and that we need to all come unto him to recieve the blessings that are there for us if we do so. I love you all so much and always be on the lords side.

Love always
Elder Loren J. Miller

2010-02-02T00:20:00.000-08:00

It was great to see Loren be so upbeat in these letters. He seems very happy in his new area. I am grateful for the people in his area feeding him and enjoying him. I can tell he is enjoying his work and the people he serves.

Dear Mom and Dad!
Well we are doing some great work here, we worked really hard this past week. We are seeing our hard work pay off and we had someone come to church and want to be taught the lessons! It was sweet, but we will see how it goes, the lord sends his prepared people to his prepared servants.

So I gave a talk in one of the wards I serve in, it is a good area and good people but the ward hasn't had a baptism in almost two years. The ward is trying to improve and to be more missionary focused and thats what my talk was about. I didnt look at my paper once to read it, it was all looking at the congregation. It was a great talk because I didn't just stand up there and read my talk but I really wanted to get the message across that anyone can do missionary work. The wards here are pretty good wards but the other ward that I serve in is a dream. The ward is all about missionary work and they do anything to help people be baptized. It is my favorite ward, it is so much fun and so much opportunities here. All the families are really great to be around. There is an old hispanic lady that will feed us any day of the week and she calls us babies, and she is this little grandma lady that is fiesty hahah. There are families that gave us a bunch of groceries when we stop by and it was cool because last week this one member gave me three boxes of cinammon toast crunch. Then gave us 8 boxes of macaroni and cheese! We really dont have to go get a whole lot from the store this week which is always great!

Well when people ask me the basic questions, I say I have been out for almost 9 months and I am from Boise, Idaho because I basically grew up there. I like to say boise because of Boise State football haha. I am trying my hardest to get the pictures thing taken care of, I am not a good photographer, I am just so busy to take pictures. Missionary work takes a lot of time!

Well I had interviews last week with president, we have them once a transfer, this transfer is over after this week.I think Elder H and I might be staying together for one more but who knows. President was very excited and happy about me, he was quite impressed! I am just happy that I am not a burden for him to deal with.
Well mom and dad and lexie and whoever reads this, I love you all so very much and I tell you with my heart that god lives and his restoration is powerful. The savior loves us all so much if we would love and have faith in him we can do anything possible. I love my mission, it means everything to me! I am working hard! Thanks for the support and everything that you have helped me accomplish! I wouldn't be here without you! I testify that the atonement is real and that we can come clean through it. The book of mormon changes lives, it is so powerful, never take it for granted! I love you all so much. Be safe and loving.

Sincerely your missionary

Elder Loren James Miller

January 25th, 2010

Hey everyone!
I am great! R from my last area got baptized yesterday! YAY! I got permission to go to it and even president and sister H were there. I am so happy for R and his path that he is on! Other than that everything is going so good, I am definately changing and growing up and helping others come unto Christ.
So I got your package today and I absolutely loved everything! Thank you so much for everything, I am truly grateful for that package and we will enjoy it! We are working hard and working extra diligently because our calling is so important. It is really about obedience mom and dad, it all comes down to whos side are you on? the lords side or the other side, there is no middle ground. I have been the happiest by my committment to the mission rules and the commandments. But I am converted to the work, this is a great work and important work. I am dealing with people's eternities, nothing else should matter than the missionary work. I have been working my heart out to help everyone. I have been carried by the spirit in many ways. But the principle of obedience has kept me safe since I was younger, I owe you mom and dad for that christlike attribute.
In Preach My gospel, I have been studying the christlike attributes in chapter 6 and have really improved a lot. PMG is the greatest!

Oh yeah I got pulled over for speeding in a school zone? Which there was no school zone sign for a mile away when the cop pulled me over. There was no schools beside a church thing. It was weird, But the lord provided a way and I got just a warning. I am so happy to got away with that. Mom and dad and family I love you so so much and I am grateful that you are supporting me on this journey of rescuing others that are children of god. Heavenly father has poured out so much blessings on our family its incredible. Always remain humble and diligent in prayer. Studying the book of mormon has changed my life and my mission. I am more mature and more obedient and I do all I can to be on the Lord's Side. The love I have for the savior and his atonement makes me work harder and want to share it with others. I love you and know that you are all safe, remember the quote by Bruce R. Mcconkie that I gave you in my christmas box. I am truly called of god and separated from the world to do his work. This is amazing and I dont want it to end. Keep doing the best you can my family.

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

January 18th,2010

Dear Family!
Everything is doing A okay here in Spring, Texas, and I am working hard and teaching more and more each week. We are working with a few great investigators and the ward is amazing! It is getting humid, and it is getting hotter, just last week it was freezing! Now I can feel that Texas Heat coming on!
Mom and dad it is all about obedience and keeping my eyes single to the work and nothing else. This morning I read notes from my setting a part as a missionary from president M and I see many of those blessings being fulfilled and it is a testimony to me of the power of the priesthood.

Last week we taught a lady who was a referral from a member and she is going through a tough time and she is currently going through her 4th divorce and has three kids. We taught her about the atonement and the significance of her not being alone and that there is a way back home to heavenly father. It was such a powerful experience and I know that she will progress in the gospel because she has a desire to know if the church is true or not. I can promise you this mom and dad that the teaching of the atonement is a powerful thing and that most of my testimony came from my study of the book of mormon.
The creation is a simple subject I believe that gets too intense if it goes into deep doctrine. I am happy for the new manual because it is so key to know our foundation and what we believe. I dont really need anything, I just need your prayers for this work and I will be happy.
Well my family I testify to you that this gospel brings power to the redeemer, which is christ. It changes us to something we are supposed to be and improves the better to the best. If we diligently study the doctrine and use our faith to ask for guidance our lives will improve tremendously. I am loving my mission and I am learning the lessons I need to be the best. Never forget what the savior did for us and for the blessings our family has recieved. I am safe and sound, The work is going up and I am rolling on. I love you and miss you!

Love always
Elder Miller

2010-01-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

Loren and one of his fellow Elders

Some gifts from friends and family

Loren at the Chiropractor

Loren's little tree

So cute!

Toys for a service project

Some missionaries from the area

So christmas has come and gone and we got to talk to Elder Miller. We got a nice long talk with him, all of us got some time and he sounded really good. He seemed anxious to move into his area which was supposed to happen a couple days after christmas. He had been in the same area for about 7 months- which was forever! Although I was excited to talk to him. I could have done without the chat with him. It was like opening an old wound for me. Because i really miss him.

Here are his last few letters.

Jan. 4th
Dear Family,

Well, whats next? haha Everything is changing! I am not shocked by emily's move. I know it is tough for you . I mean look at the fruits of that change, things are going to go great for them. I feel like every month of my mission things just change at home so I am kind of used to it!
Well transferring to this new area is a blessing! oh man, it is a dream! The wards I am serving in are amazing, they love missionaries and they are so into missionary work its crazy. We have two solid investigators that are both in high school! one is getting baptized in june and she bore her testimony yesterday and I was blown away, it was all because her friend took her to church and the ward really embraced her. The other investigator is dating a girl who is in the ward, he will get baptized soon, that ward is a dream to be in. I love my new compnanion elder h, he is full of energy and is excited, we fit together perfectly. He is really obedient and really likes to do his best and not waste this missionary experience.

So the transfer has been a blessing to me for the hard work and endurance in my last area. i am trying to lose weight! I am in an all car area, and I drive a 2010 toyota corrolla, with only 1500 miles on it! it is so much fun here in this area, it is so active and so pro active and upbeat. Also the boise state game is tonight and everyone in the mission even members are like telling me how exciting it is going to be! It is tough! root for the broncos for me! go orange and blue.

A wise missionary that I am friends with out here who is going home soon said this about god, "Without commandments we can not know god". God is not an author of confusion, Jospeh smith knew that and he prayed to know what is true and who god is. God is an exalted man, we have the opportunity to become like him, the way is through christ. Mom and dad I love you and I thank you for everything you do for me, I am blessed to know that you are there being active and doing all you can to help me. I love you and I testify to you that Jesus is the christ, that his atonement helps us go back, to be back at one with the father. Never think of repentance as a horrible thing it is a gift from god. Pleas mom and dad continue to read the book of mormon together, and it will help you with all your daily needs and adversity. I love you all so very very much! Please be safe!

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

Dec.28th
Good day family!

Well I got some pretty good news, I am getting transferred, to a new area in a new zone. My area borders the Temple. It is so cool! My new companion is Elder H, I am moving to the new area on wednesday because it is tranfer day. I don't know anything about Elder H, but I will tell you next week.

It was certainly a crazy experience to talk to you all on the phone on Christmas. I felt like i was breaking the rules at the beginning because everyday you just want to call family and tell them how things are going but you cant so I am use to that. It is great to know how all of you are doing and to hear your voices! I felt so bad about Rainy, it broke my heart, to hear her cry and not be able to talk to her more and more. But it is fine, in 4 1/2 months I will talk to her. I miss her so much, and stellar too, I wish I could be there to see how they are doing and to see them grow up.
The other christmas gifts are so great, I really am happy that I got all those great gifts, I am writing thank you cards today mom, haha don't worry! To hear from dad about him giving a book of mormon away, is so touching to me. He is spreading truth and eternal knowledge to those people, not just a book. He is such a great example to me, I love you dad, you are doing wonders and I am grateful that you sent me pictures of the Utes. The book of mormon reading is great mom, I carry a pocket size book of mormon now, I use it for teaching sometimes plus it helps with my back, haha instead of carrying my quad.

I loved the calendar you made me, it was just what I needed and I am grateful to talk to Josh as well on Christmas. I miss Josh a lot after that conversation we had, but I know he is doing good. Well yesterday we had an appointment with a family that spanish elders found, we taught them on their door step, just the father and son, then the mom came out and listened to us and she broke down in tears. Then they let us in to teach them more and read from the book of mormon. This family was listening to us bear our testimony of the gospel and the book of mormon being a comforting tool. We taught them about praying together as a family to recieve guidance and comfort from Heavenly father. The spirit was really present, oh man, it was crazy, the mom was in tears the whole time. Earlier that week, her son who is 16 i think had a seizure and the whole family is just stressed out. She asked us why all these bad things are happening, I read the scripture to her ether 12:27 then I read to her about christ suffered everything and he knows what we are going through because I read to her alma 7:11-12. This family wants to know more and more and is ready to change. They understand how are church holds the whole truth because it was restored through a prophet from christ himself. The book of mormon does miracles, it answers deep questions of the soul, it is here for our day and for the rest of eternity. Never take it for granted, it is the most powerful tool for conversion and I testify that it is true, I know that it has helped me be the best missionary I can be. I love my mission and I am excited for the new change, I am ready to do it, to lengthen my stride even more. I am blessed to know that I have a loving family at home who loves me and supports me. This mission would not be possible without you all, thank you for taking me to church and dad thank you for taking me to young mens when I was younger than 12, it taught me about being mature and learning. Dad your my best friend and mom I love you so much for your testimony. Lexie, read the book of mormon first before playing Wii, your lucky, dont forget your household chores and your school work. Emily and family, stay strong and you will be all good. I will have more to write about next week when I am in a new area! I love you and miss you, I serve with our family name on my chest just above the redeemers name, jesus christ.

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

Dec.21st
Good Day!

Hey family, im so excited to call you this week!! Well I am also a little impatient! But it will be a great day to hear your voices! It has been good here, I am ready for a change though. I pinched a nerve in my lower back at the service activity last friday, I went to a chiropractor the other day, and today I am going there. It has been tough because I can't really tie my shoes without help or ride a bike that well.

But yeah, The transfer call will be coming this saturday night, I am really praying and feeling like I am going to get trasnferred. I need a refresh! R will probably be baptized january 3, which is great! We have been working with him for the past few months, he has a little bit of cold feet because he feels like he doesnt know enough, but you dont need to know everything to be a member of the church, if you knew everything than whats the point of church? But he is great!

It was great to get packages. I definately feel special with those gifts. I am so grateful for the love I recieve from the people that know me the best, I have felt very blessed the past 7 months. I have learned that to be blessed and happy, I must be obedient with exactness, that means I must follow the rules of the mission. I am going to call probably at 7 my time, but 6 o clock your time. We are using our cell phones so after 7 o clock its free, so that is why I am calling at that time. I have one hour to talk, that is the rule, I want to be obedient, I want to be on the lord's side, and a little disobedience can take me off his side. So lets make the best of it. If I hear a rule change or anything else, please stay alert by your phones during the day in case I can call from a members phone earlier in the day. I want to talk to you all that are there, but first and foremost, you mom and dad and my sisters. Also my niece and nephew and brother in law. Maybe I can bear my testimony on speaker phone to those that are there and tell them how much I love them. But please don't worry about the phone call, it will happen, just stay posted, most likely it will be after 3 pm, no later than 7 your time.

I love you all so very much and I am excited for the friday phone call, It is the gift I seek the most this christmas, the voices from all of you. I testify that christ's gospel is back, it has been restored by the foreordained prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and that our family is eternal. Read the book of mormon, it is the word of god, nourish it and pray for the knowledge and guidance from it to fill your hearts with love from him. Please stay safe and remember what christmas is all about!

cant wait for the call!

"...I want my phone call"
-joker(dark knight)

Love always
Elder Loren James Miller

Sorry

2009-12-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have been informed by my parents that it has been to long since the last time I blogged for Loren. So pardon me for my neglectful blogging.Loren said it has snowed in Houston- Crazy huh! I will add his Pictures of him in the Snow.We are all SOOO looking forward to talking to him in 12 days!
Here are Lorens's last few letters:
Dec.7th
Dear Family! It is so great to read about how amazing you are all doing in Idaho! Rainy is such a funny girl, I really think she will be the smartest in our family! I can’t wait to talk to her on Christmas! It is freezing here in Houston! It snowed on Friday, the earliest ever in the history of Houston. It was so weird to see snow in the south! I definitely need a coat, or light jacket or something because it is so cold here. The weather really hurts missionary work because, it gets nasty especially rain and it is hard to bike in the rain and be drenched! I love hearing about your book of Mormon reading mom, I am truly grateful for your work in studying the book of Mormon. We just had a zone conference all about the importance of the book of Mormon in missionary work. It was so great, I have truly gained a witness myself that the book is true and I will never let go of it. It is so important to me, I love it and it definitely makes the difference people’s lives. . The first presidency devotional was amazing, I loved it and it definitely brought me great insights on how Christmas should be. I encourage you all to watch it, also about gifts for Christmas, I just need some slacks and sweaters and a light jacket. It is so great to hear about how well everyone is doing, we are spiritually being united as a family. I believe truly, that we are growing in the gospel at great lengths, I am so blessed to have a loving family at home that supports me in this great work I am doing. I have definitely felt your prayers! I love my mission so much; I have really grown up a lot and have found out who I am and who I am becoming. The work is hard but is needed to learn discipline and to learn reliance of the spirit and of the lord. I testify to you my family that I know that the heavens are open and that are family is eternal and we can do anything if we are on the lord’s side. We do it his way and not any other way, I love you all so much and testify that there is a voice on earth that god works through. The first presidency devotional strengthened my testimony of the restored gospel and priesthood with the help of prophets. Family read the book of Mormon, it is necessary to know the doctrines in it for our salvation. I testify that it is the word of god and we are all gods’ children. I am safe here in Houston, I am on the lord’s errand and I will keep going and I will never give up. Be safe and find ways to serve everyone, serve with love. Tell everyone I miss them and love them, I pray for them as well. I cannot wait for the opportunity to speak to you all in 18 days; I will tell you the rules of phone calls as soon as I know. Mom and dad thank you for being active in the church and fulfilling your callings. You are my heroes and lexie and Emily you also are in my prayers so much, you mean the world to me. Family, never give up and stay anxiously engaged in the things of righteousness. Be humble and willing to serve our families. I love you all and am representing you, as your son serving the lord for two years. Love always and foreverElder L. Miller
P.S. I will get a light jacket today, it is freezing! Weird huh?

11/30
Hello everyone! It is December tommorrow! That is so crazy how time is flying by! It has been flying by because I have fully submitted myself to the work, losing who I am and do what the lord commands. How great is this call! I had a great thanksgiving but prior days to thanksgiving I was sick with a cold/flu, I am great now, i just had to sit on the sidelines for a few days. I got a great companion who is patient, I felt really bad for sleeping all day and taking cold medicine. Thanksgiving dinner is the same as idaho, but the stuffing was more of a casserole dish. We didnt have it in the turkey that much, but the meal was great. 25 days till christmas and the great opportunity to talk to you all on the phone! We are working with a guy who is really ready to be baptized. His name is ronnie and he is dating a girl in our ward who lives with her mom in our ward. They are both very very active, I think that R and his girlfriend will get married in the future. R is really a great guy and WILL! get baptized before the month is over, but it is the holidays so its hard to set things in stone. He was prepared because he has been to church several times and to stake conference. He needs to read the book of mormon better but he has changed a lot according to him.I pray that everything will work out, but its contigent on him reading what we ask him to read. The book of mormon is key to conversion! Never forget that in your teachings! Tracting or door knocking is not really the best way of doing things, the prophet and apostles have continued to say that the best way is through members. Read preach my gospel chapter 9 about finding and that is what we do to find people. We dont spend several hours a day tracting, we are really trying to unite families and re activate people. We tract maybe 30 minutes a day and street contact a little bit, and we ALWAYS ask referrals from everyone! Going to the temple should be a weekly thing! but going once a month is great, just be there haha! I feel like you are building into spiritual giants, read and pray everyday, continue doing what your doing. Encourage each other to know the doctrines of the kingdom of god. Doctrine is so instrumental in activity in the church, no one can deny the book of mormon or the continuing guidance of a living prophet or that jesus is the christ. Study preach my gospel, book of mormon, and the ensign. my family in idaho, I love you all so very much, be confident in all that you do, and be loving to all in these days. Help the missionaries teach people! We need members in this work more than ever! I am loving my mission every day, it is so amazing and I can't wait to continue on and on everyday. Everything I do everyday in every moment affects me eternally. I am a refined person and I am nothing with out the help of the father in heaven. Mom and dad and family testify in the home of the restored gospel's never ending impact on our family. I am so blessed for the great family I have at home! I miss you all so very much and I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Love always,Your son Elder Loren James Miller
11/23
My Exercising is great, I do the perfect pushup workouts and it really does help build strength. We play sports like every P-day, sometimes we play with other zones, but yeah I am becoming a more athletic basketball player that is for sure. Thanksgiving plans are set with a great day of activity, we are going to play football with the ward in the morning. I need some cleats to wear, i might buy some cheap ones on clearance at ross, is that ok? we have some nice ones in the apartment but they are size 14 yikes! Later that afternoon we are going to a great family's house for dinner, They cook good food, I am sure we are going to go to other families and eat and gather up some left overs. President doesn't really like us proselyting on holidays like thanksgiving and christmas because no one is available to meet. I will be fine this Thanksgiving being away from home, I think that it prepares me for the future, when I have my family and we cannot meet for some reason. Your plans for this week sounds very fun, tell everyone I love them and thank them for their support. Tell them I have felt their prayers and am thankful for the impact they have made on my life. It is definately crazy that its almost Christmas, we get to talk on the phone in 27 days! Time is flying by!The week of christmas is busy, our mission is having mission P-day that monday, where every missionary comes and does stuff at a chapel. That wednesday we have a mission temple day where every missionary goes to the temple. Then Christmas eve and day I am not sure what the plans are yet. The day after christmas is the day we find out transfer information. So yesterday in priesthood they talked about Elder Ballard's talk on father and sons, the teacher is a great guy and we eat dinner at his house every month. He asked us elders if we would like to input anything about our father's helping us prepare for a mission. I said that my dad helped understand how to listen to people and help people with different circumstances. Dad I remember when you talked to me about listening to people. I also said that the time spent with my dad was crucial to who I am today. The teacher thanked me and said to the brethren, elder miller has came to my house a few times and he really expresses his appreciation for his relationship with his dad and its great to hear that from a missionary. Mom and Dad you guys are the greatest and I love you so very much! Dad in 18 months, we will go fishing and we will do so until you are tired of it. I am thankful this thanksgiving for the testimony that I have gained of the divine truths that the restored gospel holds. I am thankful for each of my family members as well. I am thankful for the savior, he lives, and his love I can feel as I exercise faith in him. I am grateful for all the support out there in Idaho, I am truly missin the blue and orange fall fever. Also I cant wait to hear the voices of the little ones, rainy and stellar. I love you all so very much. I want you to know that my redeemer lives and that our family is forever and I testify that the book of mormon is true, read it everyday! God knows us all very much, he knows our hearts and our desires, pray everyday family! I would like to give you a challenge to read the talk "ask in faith" by elder bednar as a family and put the principles from that talk into action. I studied that talk and truly have seen immediate results from applying the lesson learned in it. Have a wonderful thanksgiving and remember that your son in Texas is safe and in the hands of the lord. Love always your son Elder Miller

2009-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Good Day Family! Well I will find out if I am transfered next weekend so I am sorry I cant deliver any news but stay tuned for next week! It is going good here in Houston, the weeks are flying by! I hit 6 months this friday and I am puzzled when it comes to thinking that.I got the burgers dad sent me last P-day and enjoyed them all week! It brings back so much memories and I am so thankful for that generous gift you gave me dad. I am grateful for all the support from you all at home. I read from an old conference ensign in the 80's a speaker talks about service, the speaker quotes President J. Reuben Clark Jr., the quote is great, "In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines." Here are pictures from the temple attached to the email, with me and elder boyle as well as grilling some CAB's. Well Family, I appreciate the letter you sent me and the great love and words of encouragement you send me each week. I have felt your prayers every hour of every day. I have felt my heavenly father's love for me because I know this is his work and his glory. I am an instrument in his hands to do his will and never look back with regrets. The savior lives and his sacrifice is the greatest gift to us if we exercise faith in him to the end of our days. The book of mormon is the tool for us to know of how our eternal path is paved for us through being obedient to the laws and ordinaces of a restored gospel through a boy prophet Joseph Smith. This time in Houston is the best and I cherish it every moment. I am so blessed to know my family is forever and that you all are safe and are working to help others. Love everyone, everything, and every opportunity in your lives. Be safe my family, pray always and testify often of the savior and his gospel, it will bring you closer to him. Love always Your son, brother, grandson, and missionary

Well It was good to see my brother barbequeing, I can't recall ever seeing him cook like that in his pre- mission life. I am excited that he will reach his 6 month mark this week. Personally I feel like he has been gone FOREVER! I am counting down the days till I get to talk to him ! Woo hoo for Christmas!

2009-10-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

10/26
Well Good Day Family! Well you might be getting this letter earlier than normal, but its all good, just tell dad to send me an email soon. The week has gone by so fast and it was one of the most successful weeks in my mission. We are teaching a lot of people now and have a couple of solid investigators. Elder B is the man, he just goes out and does the work with out any complaints or anything. He is pretty quiet, but it is all good, he works hard and loves to study. I guess I have become a big talker this transfer, my mouth goes dry pretty quick. But the weather in Texas has chilled a lot! Remember those saturday mornings in optimist football at the end of september, thats how it is here now. It is pretty nice, 75 degrees all day. I actually read the Proclamation to the Family to a Inactive member and her daughter the other day, it felt great. I indeed get the ensign, I will definately get a conference edition, and get the conference talks on cd of the whole conference from the distribution center. My plans for Halloween are to find and teach people all day until 7 pm! haha our president says that we have to be in by then. I think we might just hang out at the apartment and study or something. I am going to the temple on wednesday, I will take a lot there, and its most likely I will get transferred in november, transfer day is the 18th. I have definately been doing a great job on journal writing. I have kept a journal, and like what President Kimball says “Keeping journals reminds us of blessings. Those who keep a book of remembrance are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives. Journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of these blessings for our posterity". Elder B was an avid Journal writer, I learned from him that journals are important. I also am almost done with my first journal book! haha I write a lot! I got another journal book that I have waiting in the wings. The mission has been flying by though! I almost at 6 months! Every week gets faster, pretty soon I will be at 9 months then a year then... oh man I cant even think about that. I guess I have grown up a lot as a missionary the past month because I have gained a lot of experience. I am very focused and more determined and I am bold with people. I am obedient to the mission rules and I strive to have the spirit with me. Preach My gospel needs to be implemented more, but oh well. I am really happy mom and dad, my choice to serve a mission is the best decision I have ever made. I wouldnt change a thing! I love the people and the work which is involved. It is hard but worth it! I love the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets. I am blessed to have such a great support group at home! The lord knows us, he knows our hearts and desire. The desire to become disciples of christ will break the temptations satan throws at us. If our hearts are centered on the gospel others will follow. I ask you to pray and always ask for the guidance of the holy ghost, be humble and loving to everyone. I think if we all had love towards each other, the world would be a different place. The gospel is the foundation necessary to the gates of heaven and the kingdom of the highest glory. The book of mormon is proof of the saviors love for the whole world, it is proof that Joseph was a prophet and that the message I share with people is true. "...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. " -Doctrine & Covenants 122:7

10/19
Well its cool down here in the Lone Star state, it was 65 the past few days and its a cold front now. Only 2 months till Christmas and we can talk on the phone! The mission has changed me, I am not looking forward to the movies I missed or the songs I havent heard while I have been gone. But I look forward to the books by apostles and others of the church I want to read. I love reading books about the gospel that are full of insight and doctrine. The book of mormon has become part of my DNA, I love it and cant put it down. The prophets of this dispensation and their testimonies of faith in the savior is what I treasure up as well. C is great, he bought a quad off the LDS distribution website, without us telling him abouit it, he said yesterday in sunday school, the teacher asked him how he got to know the gospel, and he said "elder Miller". I was really humbled at that moment, he should get the priesthood in a few weeks. Well family, I love you and I miss you and hope that Heavenly father still guides you in all your dealings. Ask for the holy ghost to be there , and pray for it, it is the tool given to us for our eternal happiness to become more of a reality if we follow its promptings. I am blessed to know I have a great and wonderful family in Idaho and to know that the heavens are open and we will be together forever. But oh well, I am great and healthy with an eye single to the glory of god, this is the greatest miracle in my life:my mission. I love you and testify that god's son, Jesus Christ, is our master and the redeemer. Remember to love everyone, no matter who they are and what they believe. Thanks for the prayers I feel everyday answered by the father which is in heaven. Love always, Your son, missionary, and brother Elder Loren James Miller

Well I edited where Loren mentioned that he wanted people to write to him. If there is anyone that would like his address I would be more than happy to give it to you. Just leave a comment and I will get it to you. He has not got much mail lately and everyone knows the excitement you feel when you receive a letter in the mail. Loren seems to be doing well. We are all looking forward to hearing his voice and talking to him on Christmas, just about two months left!

2009-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

October 5th-
Dear Family! Well transfers has come and gone during this beautiful conference weekend where I will never forget the heart warming messages of the leadership in the church. I am staying put in my area, I am getting a new companion though!! His name is elder B, he has been out for a year and a half and Its weird because a lot of missionaries think me and him look a lot alike and we are built alike. But I am excited to continue to build this ward up which it needs desperately. Conference was soooo good, I would have to say that you all need to watch Elder Hollands talk and Elder Christofferson off the church website. Please do it! Also Elder Bednars talk blew me away and so did Elder Ballards talk at priesthood. I found that talk by GBH in a conference ensign from 1977 i think at our apartment. But the church website has so much talks from the past if you search them. So everything is great here in Texas, The weather here is cooling down and it rains hard here. This is the best thing ever, I am grateful the father and the son's appearance to the boy Joseph Smith to restore the fulness of the gospel to the earth. I testify that the restoration is the foundation of missionary work, think of all the blessings that have came from that event in mankind. I am so grateful for the saviors loving gift to all of us, and allowing us to return to him and the father. God loves us all so very much and I am grateful to be an instrument to him. Things are good here, I miss you all so very very much, and pray that the holy ghost will fill your life with experiences that will testify to you the saviors love. Be safe and love one another at all times. Love always Your son and missionaryElder Loren James Miller

Well my Mom asked me to add my own personal thoughts and opinions to Loren's letters. And well I have to be honest I have avoided doing this because of how emotional I have been over the past few months whenever I think of my brother, am reminded of my brother, or think of how long it has been since I have seen him or how long it will be until I see him again. About a month or two after he left I picked up my phone several times to call him or text him, when my kids did funny things, or I wanted to laugh with him about one of our inside jokes. And quickly I put down the phone felt sad and went about my day. So to make a short story long- I miss him. Even though I never thought I'd ever miss my frustrating, irritating, annoying,impatient, difficult, stubborn, little big brother- I do.
So now I will try to add a little of my thoughts- I think Loren is doing great. I am impressed with his knowledge and testimony of the Savior. Also I was just discussing with my mom today how my brother has never been much of a reader or a lover of books. His list of books read in his life consists of the Captain Underpants Series- and thats it. But how proud are we of him that he can now add to that very impressive list- The Book of Mormon. He has read it now more than once- yay for Loren! I will write more next week. - Elder Loren's big sis

2009-09-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

9/21
Hey Family! Well its almost the end of september here in houston and the weather hasnt changed that much! Its a little cooler but all is well! It was a good week we have a lot of potential investigators but it is very hard to get a hold of them to set up appointments. We are working hard to find the people ready to change to have the gospel fully bless their lives. Next sunday C will be baptized and his ready as ever, he has met a lot of the ward and is fitting in really well. Also K got to bless the sacrament as well on sunday and exercise his priesthood. It was very exciting to see that happen. Also this week I had an opportunity to go on exchanges with the Assitants to the Presidents. Also this past weekend I had the privilege of hearing Elder Claudio R.M. Costa talk to all three Houston missions. He talked a lot of about being better prepared as missionaries as far as studies and planning goes. He said that "if we as missionaries prepare ourselves, the Lord will prepare us for his people". I think that is absolutely correct, and he also said that the key to success as a missionary is to be a Preach My gospel Missionary. Mom and dad, family, I am becoming a preach my gospel missionary no matter what. I am focusing on that right now, I know if I do that I can do amazing things. I am changing a lot and I am grateful that a mission can do that to a person. I am working so hard to be obedient and diligent in the work so the lord can help me in bring more souls unto him. Well mom and dad, I love you all so very very much and I am grateful for the support and love you give me. I miss each and everyone of you so very much but I know that in 20 months That we can pick up where we left off and enjoy being altogether and having fun. I am grateful for the opportunity to represent the Miller family here in Houston. I am also blessed from on high because of the great love I have felt here even though you are in Idaho. I am extremely grateful for the Atonement of our savior jesus christ and that through him we can be made clean. Through faith in the savior, our life can be blessed for eternity if we exercise that faith. I am blessed to know that we have a living prophet and that he leads us. I blessed to know that if I honor my covenants that I have made that the Lord will be with me every moment of this journey. I am working hard mom and dad and never letting up, I am striving to be better everyday and I will never ever let you down. I testify that Jesus is the son of god, and that Joseph Smith was visited my him and the Father which is in Heaven, that spring day in 1820 and that the priesthood was restored to its true order and that God loves us all so very much. I love you family and thank you for your help in preparing me to become a better person and a child of god. The mission is the best thing in the world, I do not ever want to come home, maybe in may 2011, but definately not now. Thanks for all the support and the prayers, I have felt them deeply imprint my days here. Keep going strong and have faith in all things, even the small things. I leave you with this scripture that elder costa gave us that is true about missionaries and being prepared to prepare the way. D&C 138:53-57. Love your son, uncle, brother, and missionary Elder Miller
9/14
Hello Family! Well its been an up and down week, pretty good with the weather and had a great zone conference. I am looking skinnier, i guess its my diet, I havent been eating bad things at all. I enjoyed your letter and pictures, I really want to go to Nauvoo and see the things that you saw. You can do anything after reading the book of mormon, its that powerful. I know i sound like a broken record, but its so important! can share the gospel with anyone, be not afraid of rejection, be happy that you are doing your duty to share the gospel and give everyone their voice of warning that the truth has been restored. Joseph Smith was a prophet and sealed his testimony with his blood. I am excited for c to be baptized! he is way excited and way committed. Tracting is alright, but it doesnt help us at all, it shows the lord that we are working, tracting is not the way to find people to teach. we are trying to find the elect, look up election in the bible dictionary. K, who just was baptized, recieved the aaronic priesthood yesterday, it was really cool. We have been helping people move in and out and stuff lately for service. I love you my family and want to let you know that I have testimony of the restored gospel of jesus christ. I know that we are all children of a loving heavenly father and through Christ we can be cleansed. I testify that god still speaks to us today through prophets. I bear witness that the priesthood is restored and that Joseph Smith restored the same church that Christ established during his ministry. I testify that salvation is only through the messiah, and that we can become closer to jesus christ through our obedience to learning of him, the book of mormon is so powerful, i love it. Please read it, pray for missionary opportunities for our family. I know that I am in the right place at the right time. I love you all so very very much, Please pray for me and the people of houston. Until next time I leave you these things in the name of the Jesus Christ, Amen. Love alwaysElder Miller P.S.- buy the book or cd of Henry B. Eyring's "to draw closer to god" its amazing.

2009-09-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sep. 8th
Hey Family! Well It has been a good week the past 7 days, I have definately felt your prayers in the area in which i serve in. I heard about the boise state game from members in the ward, Boise state is going to go undefeated again probably right? I was shocked to hear that BYU beat oklahoma, like completely shocked, How did the media respond to that?
Missions change people into better versions of themselves. I testify that it is true, im so different now, but I am a better person because i have different desires and a different attitude about things. Moving on, that is good that Utah State is doing well. I went to the Astros game yesterday and it was the funnest thing ever! the Ballpark is huge!!!! They played the phillies and it was a great game, i saw so many all star baseball players. It was a great P-day, i had to pay for my ticket with my capital one card because my mission card didnt go through. But it was a great environment! Well I thought that the BYU game would the big shock of the week for me but hearing that you guys have moved makes me even more shocked! But mom and dad you guys made the correct decision, through the power of the holy ghost you will know the truth of all things and will know what is needed to happen. I am so proud to know you guys involved our heavenly father in your choices. The house looks like the house that fits you and fits our family. how big is it ? how many rooms? How old is it? But you are right about lexie, she doesnt need to change schools, she is doing so well! I am so happy for her! I miss her so much because I know that she is turning into a great girl and will do good things. I really dont mind where you guys live as long as you are there when i return. As long as our whole family is there it will be still considered home. I have prayed a lot lately in what things i could share with you guys and its something that my mission president asked me in my interview with him last week. he asked me, "how is your studies"? I told him great, i love the book of mormon and I have been growing so strong in knowledge. I testify mom and dad that if you read the book of mormon consistantly and make it a priority you will be blessed more beyond belief. I know that to be true because I have felt it. I have read the book of mormon from cover to cover twice so far, and i am not stopping. I am telling you this because I love you and I want you to know you can do it. put 20 minutes aside everyday for book of mormon study with a pen and paper, and right down thoughts and feelings, read the chapter heading, do whatever, but start with a prayer and read to come closer to God. My mission means the world to me, I am enjoying every minute of it. That is one of the most influential changes I have made since I have been out, scripture study. So the game was so fun yesterday I will send you some pictures over the email, its not a lot but my camera batteries went out! C will be baptized sept. 27, he has been prepared by the lord to recieve the great blessings of the gospel. That right there is pure faith. I am fine, my meds, my shoes, my clothes, and my bike are all good. . I love Houston, downtown is so cool! Well I love you guys more than anything, but I testify mom and dad the lord knows of each and everyone of us and he knows our needs and our desires. If we allow the holy ghost to enter into our lives, God will direct our way back to him. I testify that Jesus is the Christ and that we have the truth restored by a prophet called of god. Time is flying by and serving a mission is the best thing ever to happen to me. Thank you for raising me in the truth. Share the gospel with everyone and build your foundation on christ. I love you all so very much and hope that you are improving and progressing everyday. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen. with love always -Elder Loren Miller
P.S:-buy from deseret book to draw closer to god by henry b. eyring either on book or cd, i bought it on cd last week and it is amazing!
-Pray for families for the missionaries in the world to teach.
-oh and one more thing GO BRONCOS!!

2009-08-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

August 31st-
Howdy Family!! Well I am sure grateful to have this opportunity to read your guys emails and hear about the great experiences you are all having. First off K was confirmed and it was an awesome experience to perform that oridinance. We are working hard to gather the flock, and to help others hear the good news of the restored gospel.I am eating a lot healthier these days, I eat carrots for snacks and have totally cut out soda and ice cream. I am more into fruits, i always have a banana and yogurt and a protein bar for breakfast! I eat light mini meals. Well mom what stake president M said is 100 percent right! that is what members need to realize is that we should love one another and be like nephi support our brothers no matter who they are. I think that if you step up and set the example people will notice and our heavenly father will notice the efforts in the work of the lord.Well my new companion is elder C, he has been out for 16 months. We get along good. It has been a hot one, of course it is texas, but by the end of september things will cool down and we will have a texas winter,It has been awfully hot, be grateful for having a real winter and fall and being able to have leaves and watch football on tv. I am gonna miss BOISE state games big time! but oh well its not like they will fall off the face of the earth anytime soon. We taught C twice last week and he is solid, he has been looking for the truth for a while now. He has read all the scriptures we have assigned for him from the book of mormon. We showed him the restoration dvd that is 20 minutes long and afterwards we asked him how he felt about it. He said that he can relate to joseph smith when he was a boy looking for the truth. my heart was full with the spirit when he said that, he is a good guy and I know he will be baptized by the end of the month, because he has already taken that big leap of faith by coming to church. Everyone in the ward is really nice to him as well! Well family I hope you know that missionary work is the best thing for me to be doing, i am so blessed to have a family like you all! I love each and every one of you! Thanks for all that you do and I know that Jesus is the Christ and that the plan to return to our loving heavenly father is through him. Remember your covenants and have full faith in our savior. I testify that joseph smith was the prophet visited by the father and the son and was asked to restore the truth back to the earth. I would like to committ you my family to read all of joseph smith history once a week. Thats what i do, and I have benefited from it, please do it! We all need to be familiar with the restoration no matter how much we know of it. I love you all so much, this is the real deal and I am so blessed. Keep praying for the work! Love you all! loveyour son, brother and missionaryElder Miller
August 24th-
Howdy Family! It is great to hear from you all! I am very very happy that you had a great trip mom and dad. The baptism was really good, I will confirm him next sunday. But it was a great moment to see this great guy enter into that covenant with god. Well last week we helped one of my favorite members move into their new house down the street. We helped them 6 hours one day and 6 hours the other day. It was good because I got a great work out and they are great people. Well another good thing happend yesterday, we found a potential investigator, he just was sitting there before sacrament, his name is C, He is 31 and said he checked out LDS.org and found the building and wanted to see what our church was like. He is really nice guy, he stayed for all three blocks and the baptism! me and my new comp are gonna teach him on thursday. Man its so cool just to have someone just show up to church and want to learn more. Well Nauvoo looks awesome, I really want to go on a church history tour someday. But thats in 20 months or so! The pictures of the stadiums are just beautiful! I rode my bike past football practices by the near by high school and it brought back memories... i still get in a center stance once and a while.. Well the other day we were doing service at the thrift store and i bought a tie there, it is a awesome tie that is really sharp, i looked on the back of the tie while determining whether or not to buy it. The brand of the tie is Luis Vuitton! haha I got it for 1.50 and it is my favorite tie now and it is probably worth like 150 bucks. But moving on from that moment. I am so happy you two returned home safely from nauvoo.Well family I love my mission and I am buliding and becoming a great person. The mission is the best thing I have ever been called to do. I believe I was foreordained by god to serve a mission. Well I want you all to know that I know that I am doing a great work and that we are living in a time of greatness. We know that the lord has restored the truth through a living prophet. And that a curious young boy acted on his desire to know the truth and that he was visited by the father and the son to bring in the last great gathering. I know that jesus is the christ and he is the redeemer of all mankind. I know that he was sent by a loving heavenly father who knows us personally. I testify that the book of mormon is the word of god and that Joseph Smith was chosen to translate the plates. I bear witness that Jesus Christ did perform the atonement and did set the example for us to become like him to get to the father. I know this is true and say it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

2009-08-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Okay so for all of those who read this I am sorry I am a little behind on Posting this. This will be the last two weeks of letters.
Aug. 17th 2009-
Happy 25 mom and dad! Well I am glad you got your package. I'm really am blessed to have the gospel in our family and to know that we are sealed together for all time and eternity. Well dad, i am shocked that Mcnabb would want him but Donovan is one of the good guys of the league, not a T.o. or a Chad Johnson. Ian johnson will be the third down guy for the vikings, he is a weapon. Fresno eh? that must of been cool. Yeah football season is starting down here in houston, the high schools around here share a football stadium that is at the school district offices, it is in ground and it is sweet, it is like a mini- college stadium, press boxes that are outstanding, and it is football country! One of the members in our ward , he is in his sixties, he joined the church 12 years ago and is very active and very awesome, he played fullback for RICE in the sixties. He drives and 06 mustang and he took us out to dinner the other night. I feel way older now out of high school because i am not going to school next week like everyone else, I am a different person already and when I get home i will be a better Loren James. The mission is an eye opening experience, i mean we walk by drunk people on the streets and knock on apartments that are not safe. Thanks for all your prayers, i do feel them as I go about serving the lord. Read the book of mormon and pray about it dad, go slow, just do it! i love you so much! your my hero, thanks for honoring your priesthood and showing me the way! Well mom, i hope you forget about everything and have fun and enjoy the spiritual and exciting journey this week. You deserve it! Missionaries are some of the reasons why people come back, we are working with people here that have fallen away. I love the work I am doing and the scriptures that i have encountered, this week will go by fast and it might be my last week with Elder G, or maybe my last week in Spring Branch, well at the end of the week we are having a baptism on sunday after church, his name is "K", 30 years old, and ready for the steps toward becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He was prepared by the lord to recieve the message that we share. Elder G is baptizing him, and I am confirming him the next sunday. I am excited to see one of the lords children start the journey back the right way. I am way interested in genealogy and want to get into that after my mission, like get way into it! I do emailing at a community college, it is like a SLCC with different campuses. Mom and dad and lexie and emily and josh and stellar and rainy, i love you all and wish you the best on all your separate journeys this week, love everyone as thyself, never be afraid to share the unique message that we know is to be true. I know that a young boy in new york in 1820 was called of god to restore the priesthood keys and christs true church on the earth, and the final piece to the fulness of the gospel, the book of mormon. I love everyone, I love you mom and dad for starting the thing i love the most, the miller family. I am grateful to know that we have a loving heavenly father who has consecrated the family as the most important social unit in the world. Our family is special because of the way we follow the teachings and apply them to our life. We are different because we rise above the rest to be a family of the lord. 25 years down, eternity to go! Thanks for everything! happy birthday JOSH! and be safe Hemming family! Tell all my friends on facebook to write me ! I want some info on how everyone is doing! My family be safe and prayerful and pray for faith in all things! I love you Your son, your brother, and missionary Elder Loren James Miller
August 10th 2009-
Hey Family! Well its been a good week this week even though its been tough with a lot of people out of town to teach! But I got some exciting news, we are having a baptism on Aug. 22nd! We met him last sunday, his name is "K", he lives with a member family that is way active and are converts themselves of like 18 years. "K" is 30 and has had a rough life and is a very smart person and very committed to the gospel, he reads the book of mormon and watches the book of mormon cartoon movies with the family and knows all about whats going on! its crazy, the members truly made a difference by teaching him things while we werent there. He loves coming to church and really wants to be baptized by that right authority, so it is very humbling and exciting to see one of gods children be baptized. What grade will lexie be in? 4th? geez its so crazy that school is starting and I have been out here for 3 months?! Thanks for sending the package! and i will be sending something to you soon in the mail. The heat has been awful because its august, on saturday we went to every member home that lives near us because our area is spread out. and nobody was home, so we were in the sun all day! yikes we drank water so dont worry. well transfer date is August 26, it is a wednesday and thats when we move around to our new areas if we are being transfered. we find out where we are going through calls from our Zone leaders, on the saturday before hand, so the 22nd! so you will know where I am going, I think its 50/50 if i am staying or going, Elder G is gone he will move to a new area because he has been in this area his whole mission. There is rumors flying around that my area will combine with the other two elders so there would be only two elders in the ward. Take lots of pictures in nauvoo, and send them to me! I want to go on a church history tour someday, I will someday do that. Elder G's family just did it and sent pictures of it, it looks really cool. I hope you two have the best trip ever, you both need it! What picture do you use for my plaque? Who is going to be starting for BOise state this year dad? How is tampa bay? Anything you guys want from houston? I know that this is the restored gospel and that things are going up for me and the people here as long as i teach with power and conviction. I love the restoration of the gospel and teaching it. I would ask you to continue to pray and read the book of mormon and to love one another! I will send you that package soon and I love each and everyone of you! I truly am blessed to be the son of a great family and to serve the lord for two years! Dad I will always be your best friend! Mom I love you and miss your food! Lexie go to bed on time and read the book of mormon and get ready for school! Well I gotta get going ! Until Next time! Take care and god bless Elder Miller 1 NE 10:18-21

July 27th and August 3rd

2009-08-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

8/3-

Hey Family! Well it has been a good week this week and the transfer is half way over, it is flying by! its already august! Wow! when is your trip to Nauvoo? Well We are pressing forward and working hard to try and find when we teach and teach when we find. We have one progressing investigator and a lot of potential ones, and we have a new one that we got yesterday who just moved in with a member who has learned a lot already from the member and we committed him to be baptized in a month or so, and i think he is really prepared and he is really open. My companion is really good, he is really anxious to get out of our area, since being here for 7 1/2 months is a little weird, rumor has it that me and him will both leave after this transfer and give our area to the southside elders so there will be only two elders in the ward. but that is just a rumor. The apartment is amazing, i am learning a lot from elder b and elder w, i am becoming a "restorationist"! just like they are because they love joseph smith and his teachings. I am loving my time here in houston, it is awesome. The best part is just coming home at the end of the day and just knowing that i left a spiritual imprint on the heart of those i teach. The worst part is when our appointments fall through and we try to think of ideas that would make us effective with our time. I got my shoes this past week and thank you so much for those. I am getting pretty good at riding a bike here, its kind of weird but its all good. I know that you all are really doing good while i am here, the lord has confirmed it through thoughts and feelings i have had. You have no idea how grateful I am for you guys and how special it is to know my family is supporting me a 110 percent. I would ask you to read together everyday, pray and then do scripture study, I mean all you guys in the home do it together, study out of preach my gospel. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!! it is so so important. I have decided on my favorite General Authorities of all time, they are all amazing men but i have three that stick out to me, 1. President Eyring, 2. Joseph Smith 3. Elder Bednar. I love hearing their talks and reading about them in the ensign. Elder B's favorite General authority is Neal A. Maxwell. Elder W's favorite is Joseph Smith. Haha kind of weird but its a missionary thing. I read today the chapter that sums up my feelings as a missionary, ALMA 29, the whole thing read it and pray about it. I hope you guys know that I love everyone of you so so much! Be prayerful and love everyone because we are all children of a loving heavenly father who has given us many things: Joseph smith, a prophet called of god who restored the gospel of jesus christ, the family, the book of mormon, and modern day prophets and more and more things. Remember who you are and forever what you becoming to be. Attend the temple and have FHE anyday of the week. Read the proclamation of the family, do all you can to soak up the knowledge of the gospel. I love you all so so very much! Represent the lord and his church! With so much Love Elder Miller

7/27

Dear Family!

Well I hope you are all having fun in Northern Idaho and in southern idaho or wherever the wind may take you haha. Seems like ever since I left things are going smooth and great with you all. I loved the videos of stellar, it was so crazy to watch them and remember that he was just a little guy with big thick legs crawling to a guy running around with a dog in the background. i am still in awe over the dog in the house, i never thought i would see the day! well here in texas it is about 105 degrees in the heat index! I am fine with everything right now, i might buy some slacks to bike in that are on clearance. but other than that I am doing great. I cut my own hair last night mostly by myself and it looks really good.! hope josh is proud of me! We have a baptismal date for one of our investigators on september 12th. He has some big steps to change but he wants to be a part of the church. Our mission president has told us that we need to extend the baptismal committment in the first lesson so that we can convey the message of the restoration with power and authority. To let the people we teach know that the heavans are opened and that they can enter the waters of baptism and start that journey towards the gift of eternal life. With that direction from our president elder G and I committed someone else to baptism after teaching her and answering questions and I looked at her and said if you read the book of mormon, the holy ghost I promise you that he will let you know that these things are true by reading and praying. She then looks at me and asks do you know it is true? I then with the spirit present and feeling its power told her yes without question this is the evidence that we hold the fulness of the gospel and the book of mormon is true, i have read it cover to cover twice. Then Elder G extended the baptismal committment and she said once I read this and know it is true, of course I will get baptized. This lady is a temple square referral and we have been trying to get in contact with her for 4 weeks. She knows a lot about the church and she loves our standards and loves the salt lake temple. I know that she will be baptized, i have full faith in her and that the lord will reveal unto her the truth of all things with her reading the book of mormon and praying. We are working hard everyday to spread the gospel, mom and dad spread the gospel to everyone! Members here in my ward area are not really working on spreading it and its hard to find people and tracting is not the answer! So help the missionaries in your area! please! The other night we went to a members house, the members name is Bro. B, he is a genius of the church and doctrines, and history, and all that. He has a book that Ezra Taft benson used to own because their is a message to him from Richard L. Evans of the twelve in it. He has a bible that is the same edition of the one joseph smith worked on when he translated it. He has so many books that were once held by prophets and apostles and most are signed by them. It was so cool! I am learning so much about the gospel mom and dad and of prophets and apostles. But any ways I want to read and collect many talks by great men who have hold the position of an apostle or prophet. So things here are so much better because of Elder B. He is so great and wonderful to be around. I am truly changing into something special mom and dad, thanks for teaching me to be humble and to have charity. Dad thanks for the sports updates! but anyways I will send you a tie soon, a new texas one! k? and also a Texas A&M tie! Mom and dad go to the josephsmith website that is new and look at some of the cool things on there! Do you guys need anything? you ask me what i need so i should probably ask you that! I love what I am doing and I have been out for almost 3 months! it is crazy how time is flying by and I know the work is about to go forward and I have a goal and a dream of baptizing a family. That is one of my goals, I want to help a family recieve the restored gospel and help them recieve the blessings which our family has recieved. I want you to all make sure you read everyday out of the book of mormon and to testify of Jesus Christ as much as possible. Bear testimony in fast sunday sacrament meeting! I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living god and that the lord's plan is big enough for all of his children. That we have the fulness of the gospel in these latter days, that the book of mormon is the stick of ephraim that is talked of in Ezekiel 37 in the bible. That it and the bible form the best team of gospel knowledge and it opens the path toward the lord. I am grateful to know what I worship and what my religion is all about, and where I am going and where I came from. I testify of all these things are made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I love you all so much, Never forget to pray before you leave to go anywhere, Feast upon the words of God. Read talks from prophets of the past 50 years on lds.org! Remember the responsibilities as members of the only true church on this earth. I know these things are true and I leave you with the words of king benjamin in mosiah 3 1 And again my brethren, I would call your attention, for I have somewhat more to speak unto you; for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come. 2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an aangel from God. And he said unto me: bAwake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me. 3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the aglad tidings of great bjoy. 4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy arighteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy. 5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the aLord bOmnipotent who creigneth, who was, and is from all deternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a etabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty fmiracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the gblind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. 6 And he shall cast out adevils, or the bevil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. 7 And lo, he shall asuffer btemptations, and pain of body, chunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can dsuffer, except it be unto death; for behold, eblood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his fanguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. 8 And he shall be called aJesus bChrist, the cSon of God, the dFather of heaven and earth, the eCreator of all things from the beginning; and his fmother shall be called Mary. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Loren enjoying a MASSIVE burrito from "Freebird"

Loren posing with a sign with our beloved Poco Dog's name on it.

2009-07-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

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!

A call home...

2009-06-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 17th Loren was able to call home from the Salt Lake airport before he left for Houston. Loren was very positive and upbeat. The tone in his voice was very different. He was very calm and patient when he spoke, and for any of you who know Loren, those to qualities were not ones he had conquered before his mission. He told us about the precautions that the MTC was following, due to the fact that there were a few elders that had the swine flu there.He talked about how good the food was and how much he had loved being at the MTC. He wanted to know how his friends and extended family were doing.He was very inspirational and definitely in the teaching mode-sharing scriptures with us and his testimony. He was rearing to go!

Letters from the MTC

2009-06-07T18:55:00.001-07:00

Loren has reached the end of his stay at the MTC, however, he has had to sty an extra week due to the fact that there has been Elders there that have had the Swine Flu. He is not sure how much longer he will have to stay it could be this week or possibly the 15th. I thought I would post some of the things he has wrote in his last few letters. He has done really well writing to all of us and hopefully he will keep up the good work. So here are some of the less personal, but nonetheless informational and good things from his letters.
June 4th-
It is week 3 and a half, I wish I was in Houston but oh well, It is really hectic here because there is so many missionaries here and not enough room. Its like we are in a layover in an airport, like we have no idea what the next day is going to be like. I love being a missionary though, It is really good to be wearing the saviors name on my badge.. This past tuesday, Elder Walter F. Gonzalez from the presidency of the first quorum of the seventy was here. He was really good and I am really glad I am not sick here at the MTC. So I dont know exactly when I am 100 percent leaving here, maybe monday or tuesday. Or maybe the 15th, I am completely in confusion sometimes here. We dont even have teachers anymore because they are moved on to the new elders that took our spots.Once I know for sure I am leaving I will let you know some how and the day I am leaving. So I love being a missionary and I am so grateful for being here and working hard for the Savior and His gospel. I am improving everyday here and im more obedient and more in tune with everything. It is a blessing to know that the gospel is in my home in idaho. God does live and does blesses our family everyday. It is so cool too, I havent felt homesick at all, which is good because it is very hard for some elders.

June 1st- So today is monday, the June 1st, two days before june 3rd which is when i am leaving. But due to the major outbreak of the flu, The MTC isn't letting anyone leave this week. It is absolutely crazy, this morning we had time to pack up our luggage, and I had about 80 percent packed then.Then on our way to lunch, we stopped at the travel offices because we heard a rumor about some elders not being able to leave this morning. So it said on the door, that nobody will be leaving this week! I was devastated, and my whole district felt down. But anyway I am totally not sick, fully healthy and yeah I gotta totally and fully unpack! HAHA, So I am here for one week maybe two, I am pretty sure I am here for another week. I seriously cannot wait to go to TEXAS, but I know that this was supposed to happen. It is a way serious thing here at the MTC, all missionaries that are coming in this wednesday (500) cant have there parents come into the MTC at all. And also there has been like 5 cases of serious influenza like H1 and H2. Sometimes they are a little too excessive on the seriousness of it. I mean its the Flu, just tell the missionaries to stay in the rooms for the day and sleep. But anywho, I am very blessed to be here for another week even though I should be gone. I get to refine my skills a little bit and eat good food and enjoy having a good companion. I am very excited to be a representative of Jesus Christ, Our Savior and our Redeemer.
May 28th-
So I am sitting here in the wonderful mtc laundry room on this computer next to my companion and just in awe about how fast this experience is here. I got my flight plans last friday, I leave the mtc at like 630 am then i head to the airport and i leave to houston on delta airlines at 10:05 am, on wednesday june 3rd. I arrive in houston at about 2:05 pm, central time so three hours aint too bad. I have to pay about 40 bucks for bag checks because its delta! But anyways I love my companion, he is like my brother, we got each others backs and we look out for each other. I am glad we got a lot in common, we are so unified in our teaching its incredible. So after the first week of just packing in the first lesson, We moved on to the second lesson, which is easier because we know how to study and teach to the needs of investigators. Every tuesday and friday we teach mock investigators here. We do very good but the only reason why is because the spirit guides us. Without the spirit there we would like a bunch of idiots that are all nervous. I have made a lot of new friends. So we have gym time like 4 times a week, and the other day the basketball gym re-opened after maintenance. My companion loves basketball just like I do, we did a game of texas vs. iowa. We can only play three on three, so we had two elders rotate in every time someone score. I only sat out once, just because I never got tired, I cant believe im in shape because I eat so much!! haha yeah I felt like Paul Milsap of the Jazz, and my companion was like Deron Williams of the Jazz. We play good together. I am a much different type of basketball player this time, i out hustle everyone and do all the grunt work of the low post, dad would be proud of me.So this past tuesday, was the devotional and it was Elder Callister of the seventy, he spoke at snow last september, he is really amazing. He talked about the Atonement. I am soaking up the knowledge here at the MTC, its like i am sponge, I am turning into a good listener and a really caring person. I have a lot of scripture references memorized. Its so amazing, the gospel and missionary work. I love it, and I cant wait till next thursday when I am officially out in the field for the first full day. I cant wait to leave here, because its kinda annoying sometimes, I want to teach "real people."
So that is all I have for now. I will keep everyone posted on whether or not Loren will leave this week. For his sake I hope he does, because it is obvious he is itching to get out and teach.

The first letter...

2009-05-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

I am assuming Loren wrote this on his P-Day, which is Thursday. His letter started out with"Dear My Loving Mother"- he goes on to say that he is safe and sound, that the MTC is amazing and that the day(wednesday, his first day) flew by. He said he is happy and has a good companion. He is in a District with some other missionaries going to Houston as well as to Des Moines Iowa. Loren wanted to make sure to tell my Dad that the food there was the best cafeteria food he had ever tasted. He closed by saying that he was not Homesick(thank goodness) and that he loved his family, The Savior and the Gospel.
A short sweet letter.

The MTC

2009-05-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

Loren went into the MTC on Wednesday May 13. So my little family-Josh, Rainy, Stellar and I with my My Parents, Lexie and Loren all caravan-ed down to Utah to drop Loren off. We left on Tuesday Morning. After we arrived some of our family friends in Utah watched Stellar, Rainy and Lexie while the adults went to the temple. We went to the Jordan River temple. It was so nice. I loved being in the temple with everybody there. We had a really nice time. So thank you Brian and Candy for watching our children for us. We appreciated it!
Then Wednesday morning came. We all headed down to Provo. Josh and I Josh dropped our kids off at his Aunt Lauri and Uncle Paul's house. They live about 5 minutes away from the MTC. The kids had a great time with them and we were so glad they had a place to go. The children that were at the MTC that morning really seemed to be an interruption. So we were glad we didnt have to worry about that.So Thank thank thank you to them.
The MTC had such a great, upbeat and positive feeling there. Everybody was so happy there. When we arrived Loren dropped off his luggage then we went to go take the usual pictures by the MTC sign and took lots of pictures as we walked around the grounds. Then we headed in the front door where the missionaries go in one side and the family in the other. This is when Loren recieved his tag. Because of Swine flu they wanted to limit the physical contact between everybody. So they limited handshakes and such. At this point we gave hugs and and said our good byes and then we headed to a big room where there was some speakers and a video on the MTC . Then that was it, all the missionaries headed out their designated doors. We all gave a quick hug to Loren before he left, although we probably weren't suppoosed to. The Man who spoke to us was a member of the Presidency of the MTC, he told us to make our goodbyes with our missionary like removing a bandaid-quick. So that is what we did. I was so proud of our family, we had a lot more control over our emotions then I thought we would.Although I wasn't with my parents or Lexie on the ride home. But I have heard of Mother's holding on to the pant leg of their elder as they were leaving, and I know none of us did that, so that is good. I feel bad that I dont have much to say. But it was so short and sweet I that I just don't have much.

The farewell...

2009-05-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 10th was Loren's Farewell, and Mother's day, yep a double doozy. But, we all did good. Minimal tears from a family of complete bawl babies. Loren commented on how he took a public speaking class this last semester at school, and I think it really helped. Loren did AWESOME on his talk! I was so proud of him. He spoke on reverence and respect. He shared a few life experiences, one from when he was a deacon and had been goofing off with the other deacons in the ward during the preparation and the passing of the sacrament for a couple of weeks. Until one day when the priests from the ward pulled the deacons aside and told them to pulled together and stressed the importance and sacredness of the sacrament. It had taught him about reverence and respect.As Loren was sharing this story, I couldn't believe that my little brother, my little immature, deacon brother ,was a man now. A man going on a mission.

Loren and I at the party, We look so old.

Immediately afterwards he was set apart as a full time missionary. As he was being set apart the Stake Pres. in the blessing said some really neat things.It was a cool experience, minus Stellar screaming in my ear the whole time.

Loren with his Build-A-Bear missionary, one of his friends in Utah works there and made it for him.

After this we all went to my parents house for a Open House. We had yummy food, and lots of family and friends there. It was really nice to have everybody there, their love and support was definitely felt for Loren. I can't help but mention how neat it was to have my Dad's two best friends there. Randy Braden and Matt Brewster. These men mean a lot to me. They are both great friends to my Dad, both honorable priesthood holders and have been great examples to him, as well as support. In return my Dad has been a tremendous example to my brother, and myself.With my Dad being a convert to the church it is nice to have friends who are there to support him during these special times in our lives.

Randy Braden, My Dad, Matt brewster("Brewster")
Loren and his friend Jake, Jake and Loren went to High School together. Jake drove up to see him, which was very sweet and we were all thankful that he did.(He is going to school to be a massage therapist and gives a great neck rub!;)

The day of the call...

2009-04-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Me seeing if I could telepathically read where he was going.
Just so you know my telepathic abilities don't exist.

Loren reading his call.

Loren opened his call February 5th, 2009. The call came that day, we had all waited all week, VERY impatiently. The week was filled with mixed emotions, excitement, sadness(mostly felt by mom), anxiousness, nervousness, we were all REALLY ready for Loren to open it!I was so nervous, and anxious, so much so that I could not help pacing around. Loren flew home to Boise that night and of course his plane was delayed.We put the little kids to bed, to let them get some sleep. We were all waiting at Mom and Dad's house for him to arrive.Loren finally arrived very late, we woke the kids up and we all sat around on the couch in anticipation. Loren bore his testimony and shared a scripture with us. The spirit was very strong as we watched this man stand before us, that not so long ago was a boy. We were all sure he was going to some foreign land, but as he read his call to the Texas Houston Mission we were all overcome with a feeling of comfort knowing he was headed right where he needed to go, a place just for him. A place to grow,learn and teach others. Tears streamed down his face and of course down Mom's too. It was such a special night. I will remember it forever.I am so eternally grateful to my Brother for the decision he has made to go on his mission. He will be and already is setting such an incredible example to our family. He has become such a strength to all of us. I love you Loren, we all do.

The next evening Loren revealed where he would be going to our extended family. Our parents fixed dinner for all of them. They had ribs and all the fixens' has a hint to where he would be going.

It has begun...

2009-03-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to the Journey of Loren Miller through his Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He has been called to the Texas Houston Mission and will be reporting to the MTC on May 13 2009.I am Emily(Miller)Hemming, Loren's sister and I will be documenting this journey on this blog the best I can. Hopefully I can help keep family and friends updated on what Loren is doing while he is out on his mission.I am planning on him sending his letters to me or our parents and I will share his experiences with all of you.