Greetings From San Jose

Hello everybody,

This week was incredibly slow. We didn't have very many appointments scheduled but the few we had ended up all cancelling on us anyway. So it was a sad week to see Elder Terry have as his last in the Mission but perhaps the downer of a time here will make him more excited to return to weather at home that is nearly freezing. Transfers are tomorrow and I will still be in my area but will get a new companion. I imagine I'll have much more to report on next week after I've gotten to know my new companion but as for now I don't think much has changed. We sort of had a funny thing happen while tracting the other day though. It is common around here for people to leave their doors wide open when it's warm outside and they just leave their screen doors closed to keep flies out I guess. So it is not uncommon for us to approach houses and stand there looming before the screen door preparing to knock. Every once in a while someone will walk by the door before we have a chance to knock and are unaware of our presence on their porch until they glimpse us with their peripheral vision. This has now happened to me three times I think and twice at the same house only an hour apart. We approached a house and the normal screen door was closed but the door wide open. I prepared to knock when this young woman walks by casually but notices us and is slightly startled. Does the whole stutter steps backward as they gasp for air and clutch their chest bit. She recovered quickly so I gave our proselyting spiel and she said she wasn't interested but to come back when her Mom came home in an hour for she might be. We come back and hour later and again the screen door is closed but the main door is wide open revealing the interior of the house. An older woman comes strolling by right as I'm about to knock and she notices this man raising his fist in the corner of her eye. Her reaction was much more dramatic than her daughters but along the same lines. Almost falling over, grabbing the wall for support and holding her chest as if her heart were trying to pop through her rib cage. She said she was Catholic, once she had recovered enough for me to state our business, and waved us away. So that was my source of amusment this week. That and hearing my experienced companion retell all of his various spookings of people that occurred when he was tracting throughout his mission. I hope everyone is doing well and is having a good week.

Sincerely, Elder Miller