Week 2 in Homer, Alaska!

Hello!

It's been a crazy week up here in the AK, but it's been a lot of fun.
There's a lot of service to do here in Homer, I think we're in service
clothes almost every day of the week. It's a good work out for sure.
From digging ditches to putting up greenhouses to working in community
thrift stores, there's always something to do. It has certainly been a
lot of fun.

This Tuesday we had perhaps the most ghetto district meeting of all
time. Our district is spread out so we have to use PVC(public video
conference) to have district meetings. Well, our PVC connection was
down, so we had to improvise. We Facetimed one set of elders on Elder
Contreras iPad and the other set on my iPad. The connection was
terrible so people were cutting in and out all the time. Then my iPad
died. So we ended it on the phone. The best part was that President
Robinson was there with us. Fun times.

We've actually been doing a lot of teaching in this area and it's been
really fun. Teaching is good. There are a few progressing
investigators, but I am still trying to get to know everybody, so I'll
update you on all the people later. The people here are awesome
though, they really are. The problem is, most of the people we teach
are willing to listen but they aren't willing to change. So we got to
keep going out and finding more.

This week we also had a zone conference in Soldotna, which is a 170
mile round trip. So we road tripped pretty good this week. It is so
hard to use a conservative amount of miles here. This area is too
huge.

Elder Contreras is awesome. He's probably my craziest companion so far
and it's been a lot of fun for the past two weeks. We'll see what the
future holds. Alright everyone, have a good week! Next week I might be
fishing, if I am, that's why I don't email you back.

First Week in Homer, Alaska

Hello!

This week has been pretty crazy. I got to Homer last Tuesday and let
me tell you, this is the promised land. It's incredible here. The
ocean is right here, there's volcanoes across the way, everything is
vibrant and green and beautiful, and the people are hilarious. It's a
drinking town with a fishing problem as they say. Look it up. It's
seriously amazing. If you're going to visit Alaska at some point in
your life, visit Homer. It's the bomb.

My new companion, Elder Contreras, is a pretty cool guy as well. It's
been a lot of fun so far, but there's not many investigators here. The
fun part is that because it's tourist season cruise ships come in and
drop people off so there's plenty of people to talk to. There's a
place called the Homer Spit that is basically a five mile long jut out
into the ocean that has docks all around it and some restaurants and
tourist shops on it. So we go down there and talk to people all day
long. We have a huge area, we drive a lot to get to different parts.
We cover Anchor Point, a small town, Ninilchik, a village, and three
Russian villages who's names I can't spell. And it would be offensive
if I tried. So that's my life right now. There's no other missionaries
even remotely close to us so p day is just me and my companion, who is
currently taking a nap. Sleep is good. I'll probably take a nap too.

Everyone in this town is crazy, especially the members. This is what
they call "True Alaska" as opposed to the cities like Anchorage or
Fairbanks. So the people here are very stereotypical Alaskans that you
would see on TV shows. But those shows don't give any credit to the
people here. They're amazing and hilarious and actually really good
people. And they all hate the TV shows made about them. They think
that it brings more people out here, and that's exactly what they
don't want.

So all in all life is great. Getting into a new area is always
stressful, but it's definitely fun and exciting. We do a lot of
service here which is pretty cool, cause we didn't do much of it in
Anchorage. So that's nice too. Life is awesome. Stay gold. Have a good
week!

Love,
Elder Miller

Week 42, Anchorage, Alaska Mission

Hombres,

So the big news this week is that I'm getting transferred! After
spending 26 weeks here in Cook Inlet I'm heading off to Homer! That's
on the southern tip of the Kenai peninsula. That's deep bush right
there. It's also a tourist town, which is going to be pretty fun. I
can get everyone Salty Dog hoodies if they send me money, just saying.
My new companion is going to be Elder Contreras. I'm super excited,
this is so cool. I'm also going to be the district leader, which is
less exciting, but it will be fun. My district is all over 150 miles
from me. So that will be nuts. District meeting will be over PVC,
which is going to be weird.

So let me tell you about Eve. She's the best. She read the entire Book
of Mormon. In a week. That's crazy. We've taught her a few lessons and
she's on date for baptism. That's awesome! But now I won't be here for
it which is really sad. Dang it life.

Now I must go, but have a great week everybody! I love you all. See
you next week! Well, not really, but you get me.

Love,
Elder Miller

Eating Pie with President Robinson 

Elder Call, Elder Miller, and a senior couple 

Getting nose hairs waxed 

Eating pie with President Robinson

Week 26 in Anchorage/ Cook Inlet YSA

I've spent 26 weeks so far in this area. Transfer calls are this
Friday so I'll let you know next week what's going on. I don't know
what I want to happen at this point. I love this ward and the people
here and the work is going really well, so that probably means I'm due
to leave. That's okay though! Life is exciting as a missionary no
matter where you are. But if I don't stay, I hope I go somewhere
crazy. But we'll see what happens.

I would love to send you pictures of the baptism this week, but I
can't. Mainly because there was no baptism. We rescheduled Marc's
baptism for the 25th of June, so if I get transferred out to somewhere
not in Anchorage I won't get to be there. Jackson's is on the 2nd of
July now, so I won't get to see that one either. Dang it. These people
have come so far and I absolutely love them, I wish I could see them
take that step in following the Savior. But the important thing is
that they're doing it. I don't need to be here for that.

Jackson is the best investigator ever. This week he started sharing
the Gospel with his family and friends, and recently gave us two
referrals. That's awesome. He's also the funniest person ever. He
challenged me last week to a fancy-suit-off last week, so I destroyed
him. It was awesome. He's told us that after he's baptized his goal is
to find a Mormon wife, move to Utah, and have 82 kids. He already
knows the drill.

Other weekly highlights include: We had a sweet temple trip, Elder
Call and I had our last trainer-trainee meeting, I ate way too many
bowls of crunch berries (the cereal), all the departing missionaries
are getting really trunky, and we had a lot of scary times with bees.

Despite all the craziness this week turned out pretty awesome.
Hopefully yours did too. And hopefully this one does too.

Cook Inlet YSA, Alaska Anchorage Mission, Week 41

Howdy again,

This week has been pretty much awesome. I got a light sunburn because
we've been outside so much and it's so nice out. Looks like it's going
to be cloudy for the next little while, but it was worth it. Rocking
the short sleeved shirt is always nice. Gotta love it.

So some awesome things happened this week, first and foremost being
that Marc passed his baptismal interview and will be being baptized
next Saturday! That's what's up! He's the best and I am so excited for
him. I love it so much.

Jackson, who is also on date, is also a boss. He asked us for a
blessing and he is super committed! It's the best! I love being a
missionary it's the best life.

Also, we got robbed! How cool is that? We went out to the car one
morning and it had been broken into! They stole our jackets, which is
super annoying because that was a really nice jacket, but it's cool!
Now I can say I've been robbed. It's exciting.

So this week was really good. I am going to do condensed highlights
because I don't have that much time, but know that I love y'all, and
you're the best. Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Miller

Cook Inlet YSA, Anchorage Alaska, Week 40

Howdy,

So clearly last week I failed at sending out the group email, but all
you need to know about that week is that it was great. Life is
awesome. For real. The sun is out till 11. I wake up to the sunrise at
4 30. Then go back to sleep. Everything is lush and green. The snow is
all gone, it's in the 60's and 70's all the time and life is
beautiful. People talk to us outside, we teach a lot, and I'm a happy
man. It's great. Hopefully life is going great for you as well.

Let me tell you about Jackson. So Jackson Jonas was craving Wendy's
two Thursdays or so ago, so he went to Wendy's. The drive through line
was super long, so he decided to go inside. Unbeknownst to him, a
temple trip had just gotten out, so there were about 30 Mormons inside
that Wendy's. He figured he would talk to them first because he knew
eventually they would talk to him. So he asked them some questions and
referred him to the other missionaries who referred him to us. We met
him for the first time last Tuesday. He's now on date for baptism on
June 18th. He already told us the church is true, he reads the Book of
Mormon, and he came to church. I've never met anybody like this, it's
nuts. It's like the most exciting thing ever. Being a missionary is
the best. You should try it some time.

Marc is also doing really good. His phone shut down because he's
broke, so we can barely communicate with him, which is less than
desirable, but we make do. He's still on track to be baptized on the
4th of June so that's also super exciting. I love it. Like so much.
You don't even know. It's for real.

Another high light of this week is that we had 4 member present
lessons and the ward is getting super excited about doing missionary
work. It's going well. I'm really sad that there's a high percent
chance I'm leaving this transfer. I learned so much from this ward and
from these people I will definitely miss it. But that's okay because I
still have 3 and a half ish weeks to slay it here.

That's some of the highlights of this week. Oh, we also met this super
cool lady named Neesha who took a Book of Mormon and set up a return
appointment with us and it was cool because that never happens. Good
times.

Alright, this week was pretty awesome. Next week will be too.
Hopefully yours is as well. Love y'all.

Elder Miller

Cook Inlet YSA, Anchorage, Alaska, Week 38

Howdy,

Clearly I'm getting steadily worse at emailing home. But that's okay.
It's been a long day.

It's beautiful out here! Everything is green, the trees and flowers
are blooming, the sun is shining, it's awesome. Alaska is the most
beautiful place on earth. For real. It's light out all the time, I
don't even need to turn on the headlights in the car. This is the best
place on earth. There is no where I would rather be than here serving
the Lord. I'm going to miss it so bad when I have to leave. Luckily
that's not for a long time. Being a missionary is the best.

Tuesday was a super long day. It was the last day of the transfer, so
everyone was partying and it was super hard to work. We were not
partying. We were trying to find things to do. But when there's no
district meeting and nobody wants to go tracting with you it puts you
in a rough spot. So that was fun. We said goodbye to the district and
it was sad. Good times.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. Except it was the first day of the
transfer and it was also rough. But that's okay! Because you have to
persevere through the rough days to really appreciate the good days.
And there's definitely more good days than bad. Which is really nice.
You just have to stay focused, work hard,and be diligent and it is
always good.

Thursday was the bomb. We taught lessons all day long. It was sweet.
We've been trying to work with members more, because that's like the
only way to get anything done here. So we set up a bunch of lessons
with members and we got to teach all day. I was so happy. We also
taught some less actives we don't normally get to, which was also
cool. Then we had a lesson with our new investigator Danny, who's a
boss, and we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he thought it was
awesome, and then we invited him to be baptized, and he totally said
yes. So that's awesome. We're getting things done. It only took me 5
months here to figure it out. That's what's up.

Friday was a wonky day. We taught Marc and had a good day, but it was
like super disjointed. Then at the end of the day Elder Call and I had
the most awesome companionship inventory I've ever had. It was sweet.
Good things happen on wonky days.

Saturday our schedule got all sorts of messed up. Our investigator
Laura who is moving to Wisconsin soon wanted to meet at 9 in the
morning during studies. And we did and it was an awesome lesson, she's
totally gonna get baptized done the road. But then we had to study
after, which was weird. Then we met with Marc again, had a really good
discussion, had another lesson, then went to dinner and got like 4
referrals. That's what's up. This weak has been crazy. That's what
happens week one of the transfer.

Sunday was great as well. We had no ward council because of mother's
day, so we met with our new ward mission leader and then had a lesson
with a less active who came to church. Then after church I ate way to
many chicken nuggets. It was brutal. Then after that we Skyped home,
which was weird and good. Home is weird. Then we had a sweet lesson
with Marc and a bunch of members. But sadly we're going to have to
move Marc's baptism date back. Today he messed up, which is okay, it's
all a part of the process, but now he's going to have to wait a little
bit. It's sad,but it's good for him. We want him to be good and ready
for this. It's all in the timing.

Alright you have a great week. Remember that you're awesome. Peace.

Elder Miller