Tranquillo March 11, 2013

Oii tudo mundo [Hello everyone?],

So this week was a good one! I’m not sick any more and I’m feeling great! Back to working out hard in the morning and walking all day in the sun ha!

So the big news!! We had two baptisms!!!!!!!! F. and R. F. is 18 and he is awesome. He wants to serve a mission and it is crazy how fast he has soaked up the gospel. We are teaching his family still and they have come to church the past two Sundays now! The mom and dad smoke but they are progressing well and should stop completely this week.]

R. is 14 and he was a challenge. We have been teaching him for a while and he has changed a ton. IDK [I don’t know] if you remember but Luis ( I baptized with Elder Arrioala) also is 14, and they have hit it off! They are super good friends and I think they are going to serve missions one day!!

R's mom also has changed a ton! She did NOT like the church at first and heard some things about baptisms for the dead... but she let us help R. because she was desperate for help ... but she came to church this Sunday to see his baptism and loved it!! We are teaching the whole family now and they have dates for their baptisms!

We marked 11 baptismal dates Sunday after church and had 10 investigators at church! Milagres [Miracles]!!

Also... I got my packages!!!! Thank you, thank you!! Everything was fine... except the jacket was missing? Was it stolen? I saw you bought insurance so you should use it if it was! But thank you so much, I loved it all! The work out band is awesome and the jump rope will be used a lot!

Other than that my week wasn’t too crazy. Oh, I saw a man bleeding out on the sidewalk and having seizures, but the ambulance got there at the same time we did, so there wasn’t anything we could do.

But that’s all for now. No, Mom I’m not sick. ha I’m not dying... Tranquillo [Chill?]. Sam … congrats!! BYU man!!! Que legal! [That’s cool!] Ryan how was the superman song?? Did you already perform? I want a recording!!! Remi … the backpack blower!!! Minha nossa! [Wow!] Your business is legit, Buddy!

I love you all,
Elder Miller

I’m sending pics!

Elders Miller and A Silva

Elder Miller with a ward friend who often goes tracting with them.

 

Um abraço March 4,2013

REMINGTON! Mom, Dad, Ryan, Jaimee and Sam!

Thank you for the emails!
So, this week was terrible!!!!!

JK [Just kidding] It was another good one. But I am sick : ( I got sick like three days ago ands it's really sticking with me : ( But I'm working through it and we are having success.

Remington!!!!!!! Before I forget, that blower sounds awesome. You are so rich with over 200 dollars!!! Buy me a car?

Mom and Dad, the new car is pretty sweet. It moved you up 20 cool points! (So you have 20 now. haha)

Ryan, to answer your questions: What's the craziest experience you've had lately? How long does snail mail usually take to get to you from the states? Do you miss American food? And what's your current companion like?

The craziest experience lately: I saw someone get robbed! It was crazy and it was far away so there was nothing I could do. But they were fine and no one got hurt.

I think it takes like a month for letters to get here... It's pretty slow. Sometimes three weeks or two and-a-half if you're lucky.

 

I miss American food... a lot ha. I would kill for In and Out, or Five Guys, or one of Dad's hamburgers!

My current comp is way cool. He's CRAZY and can be super scattered (It gets pretty interesting when we teach -- sometimes I have to tie things like the restoration in with college, or the plan of salvation with soccer -- he loses his train of thought. ha) But he is so excited about the work!!!!!!

But this week, our investigators weren't progressing super well. We didn't have baptisms, because they drank coffee!!! Dangit! But we are gunna have three this next Sunday! I know it!!! Coffee is a huge problem here ha! But we also found an awesome family this week, and they are soaking up the lessons. The mom smokes, but she wants to quit so bad! I'm very excited to keep working with them.

And we had 10 investigators in church this week! And they all loved it!! I was so excited to have that many there, because the week wasn't a super good one, but that helped make it a lot better.

But thats all for now!

Love you all and miss you all!!!!

Um abraço, [a hug]

Elder Miller

Oiii tudo mundo!! February 25, 2013

Oiii tudo mundo!!

So this week was ANOTHER good one. Every email is going to start off like that ha.

So I’m staying another transfer and super happy about it. When the new Elders and Sisters arrived in our zone, a few of them thought I was Brazilian, because I don't have an American accent!! So I was super happy about that... I still have days that are hard, but most of the time I am speaking really well.

So, Mom, Dad, Ryan and Sam, you already know, but they are dividing my mish! [It was announced this week, that in July the Brazil Curitiba Mission will be split in two, the other half becoming the Brazil Curitiba South Mission.] I want to stay in the south part... with Ponta Grossa and maybe Iaguacu Falls!! But either way, I’m sure I will end up where I’m needed.

This week we found some awesome investigators!!! We found an ex-pastor of an evangelical church... and he’s a super nice guy. He’s been soaking up the lessons and reading the book of Mormon, but he hasn’t prayed yet to ask if it’s true... but he will! I think were gunna baptize a pastor ha! Super cool. R., a teenager we have been working with, should be getting baptized this week. He was supposed to be baptized this past Sunday, and he passed the interview, but his mom wouldn’t let him because she thinks he’s not ready to be baptized... so we are working with her. She’s not a huge fan of the church, and somehow she knows a lot about baptisms for the dead ha, so it should be a fun week.

The family you asked about names are: M., D., [The man who was killed by the train.] and their 4 kids and I don’t know how to spell their names. Ha. They are progressing realçly [I left that Portuguese “ç” typo in there to show that Elder Miller’s keyboard must be different. It gives me hope for his spelling!] slowly, but we are still working with them. She is depressed I think, and she doesn’t have a lot of motivation to do anything (like read or go to church) but we're not giving up.

So a few random facts to end this email....we almost died on the way to another city called Castro to do a baptismal interview. We were in one of the double accordion busses and it was raining hard... and for some reason the bus driver started stopping super fast, and the back half of the bus (that we were in) swung around and went parallel with the front half ha! It was crazy, but no one was hurt.

Also, a crazy guy came up to me speaking ´´English.´´ ha. He was just speaking gibberish but he thought it made sense. I had to tell him like 20 times that he wasn’t speaking English... and he still thought he was. It was hilarious though, and it was in the middle of a bus terminal and tons of people were watching.

Also, we tried teaching a family last night and I’m not sure why, but the drunk husband wanted to fight me (I think because I’m white... but his wife was white too. ha) so that was exciting. He was a small guy, and drunk, so I was pretty confident ha-ha. But because I’m a missionary, we walked away as he was swearing. It was hard. ha

So that’s all for now. I love you all so much and miss you too,

Elder Miller

 

Elders Miller and A Silva and their wonderful Ward Mission Leader.

Happy birthday!

 

Still in Ponta Grossa February 18, 2013

Soo... I'm staying in BON SUCESSO!!! Woop! I was a little nervous I was gunna leave this transfer, but I've got at least one more here in the Celestial Kingdom!! Which is good, because I think we are going to have even more baptisms this transfer!!

We didn't have a baptism this week : ( Our interviews fell through... no one was home, dang it! But they all went to church yesterday! So we will have the interviews this week!! But we had 8 good investigators in church yesterday... and I think all of them will be baptized this transfer! Hopefully a lot more ha.

Yesterday after church we had a family home evening with a recent convert family and it was super fun.... I shared a message about Christ.. and my comp said I sounded Brazilian when I was talking! And it's so weird, now I really don't have to try to talk or understand, it's just natural. I'm still learning new words everyday and working on my accent, but its so cool being able to just talk with out problems!

Dad and Mom! You two lovebirds are so cute ha. [We sent him pictures.] Thanks for the Valentine's help Mom and Dad... you guys are the best  : )

Ryan! That picture is awesome! I'm still a little confused where you are right now, [Ryan spent the long weekend with friends at a beautiful cabin in thesnowy mountains of the Idaho Palisades.] but I'm definitely jealous! It's super hot here right now, I'm sweating like crazy just typing this email!

So, I took lots of pics this week, and I will send a few real quick. Also, I made a few videos that are super funny. [No videos came through.]

I had to kick another dog in the face this week (he looked a lot like Truman, but about twice the size and he tried to bite me).

Oh! One other cool thing. Today I was studying scripture for personal study... and I'm reading in 2 Nephi where he's quoting Isaiah... in Portuguese, so it's a little hard to understand. ha So I turned to my English scriptures for help, and as I was flipping to the right page, I found my Patriarchal Blessing, and started reading. I felt the spirit so strong as I realized how accurate it has already been. It has so much counsel for me and my mission. It was crazy! It's seriously incredible how much guidance it gave me today, and how well our Father in Heaven knows each of us personally.

But I'm going to send those pics.

I love you all,

Elder Miller

Bad hair week? February 11, 2013

Oiii tudo mundo,

So this week, we baptized B.Saturday! And he was confirmed on Sunday!!! I don’t know if I explained about B's family... but they [hadn't come to church for about 5 years] and we have got them all coming to church again... and they are really enjoying it!

It was a super good week! We marked 24 dates for baptism this week!!! But we didn’t have a lot of investigators in church this Sunday : ( Sunday was super cold and raining super hard, so I think no one felt like getting out of bed : ( But next week should be better...I want to have like 30 investigators in church. Ha. We had 4 [investigators] at B’s baptism and afterwards we taught them the first lesson and marked dates, so I’m hoping that goes well!!!

We taught the family of the man who was killed by the train a couple more times... and they forgot to go to church : ( But they are still progressing and I feel like the gospel is really bringing them comfort.

Also, this week I taught another guy for the first time... It went really well actually, and he has a lot of faith in Christ!

Also, I got a terrible haircut... The worst haircut of my life. Ha. But it will grow back. And I borrowed clippers from another missionary and fixed it up a little bit. Ha.

I don’t even know what else to say... I have so many investigators and people that we are helping I have no idea where to start. Ha. I’m loving it here!!! The transfer ends this Sunday and I’m a little worried I’m going to get transferred, but we will see what happens!!

So Ryan... that’s awesome you’ve got a good team!! You are going to make bank!!! Ha. All the Living Scriptures guys! Ha! Speaking of Living Scriptures... I saw it again down here... It’s pirated. No joke. Some other company pirated Living Scriptures for sure. It’s not Nest Entertainment. Ha. It’s some Brazilian company, but they only have like three or four of the films ha.

 

Mom that’s super cool Anthony was called to Brazil!! Que legal!

 

Ha Remi! Good job helping Dad with the shed!!! Did you have an interview at Publix? And congrats with the Sacrament, Buddy!! You will do awesome!

 

Dad, the shed looks awesome!!

Well, that’s all for now! I’m going to send pics.

Love you all,

Elder Miller

 

So this first picture is at a recent convert’s house. Their family is super cool... and their little girl, M. is soooo cute. Ha. She wanted to take a picture with me really bad! So I had to hold her up Ha.

 

The other one is at a family home evening we had with a bunch of members and investigators... we played a cool game where you make a mountain out of flour... and put a centavo (a coin) on top... and everyone has to cut a piece of the mountain away with a knife until it gets super small and falls.... and whoever makes it fall has to grap [grab] the coin using their mouth. Ha.

 

And the last one is B.'s baptism... It was an awesome day!!!

 
[PS Today the beautiful photo on Bing.com is of Iguazu Falls in the state of Parana, Brazil, where Elder Miller is serving! He chose a photo of them for the background of this blog!
http://www.bing.com/]

 

Busy, busy February 4, 2013

Oiiiii!!
So, another week down. They are starting to go by super fast!!! I feel like I was just writing you guys yesterday and I'm already writing again!

So this week... We had one baptism! G.! He's super cool. He's an 11-year-old and his dad baptized him! Right before I got here, his dad and step mom and older sister were baptized. But G. was living with his mom, who's not a member, in Curitiba... But he just came here to live with his dad... and so his dad asked if we could teach him. When we started he didn't know much about Jesus Christ or religion at all.... but he memorized literally every thing that we taught him... and now he is a genius ha. He is going to be a spiritual giant.. and it was so cool to see his dad baptize him!! It was super spiritual!

Also, we are going to have a baptism this week... B. is 13 years old and his family has been less active for the past five years. We have got the family coming back to church though!! And we taught B. and his step mom (who's not a member) all the lessons and now they are both getting baptized!! The mom quit smoking already.. but it's going to be a month at least until the mom is baptized, but she has a super strong desire. When we started teaching her she didn't know anything about religion and so she has come a long way in the past month! B. will be baptized this Saturday!!

So the parents of L. are going to wait for another week before they are baptized :( But M and K were confirmed this week! I love those kids. ha

Also, this week, we taught the wife and the family of the man who was killed by the train.... It wasn't very reverent when we started..... they have 4 little kids. But when we started talking about how they will have a chance to see their dad and live with him again...(and that he didn't go to hell because he wasn't baptized) it got so quiet and the Spirit was so strong.... It was an incredible experience. Wow.

Oh, RYAN and SAM... I was teaching a family on Sunday... and they were watching TV.... and they were watching Living Scriptures in Portuguese... the Old Testament about Abraham and Isaac!! It was crazy ha, and it was on TV! I don't now how, but it was most definitely Living Scriptures. ha
But that's all for now! I love you all. Ryan and Sam... where are my emails???? ha

Love You All,
Elder Miller

What a week. January 28, 2013

Here's a photo of a sign I painted for a service project with recent converts (I love this family)

and one from the baptism!!

 [I looked it up, and "costureira" means seamstress!]



Oiiiiii,

So, this week was another good one! I feel like all my emails start of like that!! But its true! They have all been good weeks!

We had two baptisms! M. and K.! They are the young kids we have been working with for a while and teaching them a lot. (I think we've been teaching them for over a month and half) And it was so cool to help them get baptized! I love those kids!! Their family is awesome, too! We are working with the rest of them...

Also, this week we have found lots of new investigators and had a lot of progress with a few of the families we have been teaching... I'm not sure if you remember Luis ( I baptized him). We have continued working with his family... And it's been difficult, his dad is a singing pastor for a few churches. He was pretty closed to our messages for a while... and he was one of the 13 investigators that heard about baptisms for the dead... and wasn't happy. But we went there this week and explained it all, and immediately after, he had a testimony of the importance of batismos pelos mortos! haha It was awesome. And now he has quit drinking coffee and he and his wife have a date for baptism this Sunday!

Also, this week, we were at the house of a Sister in the ward, trying to help her come back to church. And one of her little kids came running in and said the train hit a man (the train tracks are right behind her house and we had just heard it go by). So we went running to see what happened, and when we got there there were a few other people looking at him... I checked to see if he was breathing (he wasn't). It was pretty gruesome and sad.

But this week we found his wife and family (4 young kids) and we have an appointment to teach them this Wednesday. I know the message of the Plan of Salvation can bring her comfort and I'm excited to share.

Also, this week we were tracting, clapping doors, and we clapped one and an old lady invited us in. When we got there, we saw 5 young kids sitting on the couch (16 and 17-year-olds) and they all had Bibles ha.. I thought, oh boy, here we go. ha But then we talked to them and found out they were a youth group from another church traveling and sharing scriptures... and we asked if we could share a message with them : ) We shared the message of the Restoration and when I told of the First Vision, one of the  boys cried a little. It was really cool and we all felt the Spirit.  We used lots of scriptures from the Bible, too... because one of them didn't want to read anything out of the Book of Mormon (He probably heard it's "of the devil"), but by the end of the lesson he wanted a copy. They don't live in our area, but we got their addresses and sent them to other missionaries and hopefully they will have success! It was awesome though to teach a youth group, ha.

But thats all for now.... oh! Yes, I would like my jump rope, Mom! Also, thank you for getting all the package ready.

Oh, also this week... We were supposed to hear from Dallin H. Oaks, but he wasn't able to make it, so we heard from the Presiding Bishop and two members of the 70 and it was a super cool experience. It wasn't an apostle, but the next best thing! ha

And I got the Valentine's cards Mom and Dad and Remi!! Thank you. haha Dad, thanks for what you wrote! LOL

But that's all for now,

I'll send pics too.

I love you all!!!

Elder Miller