Elder Miller and his Texas flag

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

July 20th-

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

July 13

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

Catch up!

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

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

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

Elder Miller

Loren with his companion at the temple.

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

Just a fun one!

A call home...

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

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...

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

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...

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!;)