Hello Everybody,

This week was pretty fantastic. We were prepared last Sunday and managed to corner a bunch of unsuspecting members and invite ourselves over to their houses so that we could share a message with them. Our missions goal every week is for every companionship to teach 20 lessons. That is the standard that we are supposed to aim to meet and up until this week I don't think I've ever done it. The key to doing it when you don't have very many non-members to teach is to teach a lot of members. So we set up a bunch of appointments beforehand and throughout the week it worked pretty well. Our total came out to 21 lessons, and not all with active members. You may ask yourself "what is the point of teaching members?" and that is a valid question. Most often we don't end up teaching something that they haven't already heard a billion times, but the value really comes from the spirit that is brought into the home and not so much the message that is shared. From doing this we had a couple of really great experiences. With one family we shared a message about eternal marriage and that was basically in order to fulfill an assignment we had received from our District meeting. We were supposed to teach that specific lesson and we just figured this was already a solid family so they don't need much and we have this lesson that we are supposed to essentially practice teaching. When we got into the lesson and then finished and asked what they felt about what we had shared they were really touched by the spirit and expressed much gratitude because they said what we had shared was a topic on which they had both been thinking about for a while. This is a couple who has been sealed in the Temple and are worthy of their covenants and so they weren't exactly any where near questioning their marriage or anything of the sort but rather they had just sort of forgotten the importance of what their being sealed in the Temple means. A topic that is only brought up specifically in church every so often and so allows time to just kind of fade from your memory. They just felt it was perfect to bring it up and turn their thoughts towards something that isn't always present in your mind every day. So that was just great to get to be a part of.

On Thursday we had a really busy day planned and it mostly worked out. Starting off we did service at the local soup kitchen and that was great. They let you take old donated pastries from starbucks as a breakfast and then put you to work chopping cauliflower and cutting up bread. One thing that entertains me every time I go to this soup kitchen, and perhaps it's just mean spirited, but there are yellow pieces of paper taped on all the entrance doors that warn the homeless people of the dangers of sleeping in dumpsters. I mean I guess I grew up with the stereotype of homeless people living in dumpsters but I had never really thought that it was so commonly practiced, not too mention prone to causing garbage truck related accidents. So maybe I'm just insensitive but I really want to grab one of those pieces of paper or get a picture. But it was great to prepare some of the food to be served out and then we stayed about for the lunch that they serve to all the volunteers. Split pea soup and salad. I got to talk with the director of the place, a very nice man. He learned that I was from Portland and so asked if I had seen a new tv show called Portlandia. I guess it's supposed to be pretty funny and in good humor. Everyone there who'd seen it said that the show could just as easily be hosted in Santa Cruz. Very similar cities they all agreed.

After the soup kitchen we had a lesson with a recent convert which went great, educating him on the responsibilities of the priesthood which he had received on Sunday and we were preparing him to pass the sacrament for the coming Sunday. Then we had a lesson with another recent convert and that went great as well. It is wonderful to see him doing so strong and eager to keep learning more and just soak up as much as he can. After this we were supposed to meet with a less active man and his family, a lesson that we had high hopes for since his wife and children aren't members. We had arranged to bring the primary president with us and win over the kids and the wife I guess but they called right before and said that he hadn't really checked with his wife and now the house was full for a girl scout activity that she was putting on so we'd have to reschedule for a later time. Bummer. But we got to try and contact some people on the street instead and that was alright and then we were headed off to dinner which was great. One of the daughters in the family we had dinner with had her boyfriend over as well and he was not a member and probably pretty resistant to any efforts to change that but we weren't very pushy and just got away with teaching an after dinner lesson to the family that was great. We have a neat lesson on faith and Lehi's vision in which we draw a picture of the tree of life and then scribble over it like it is obscured by a mist of darkness and then we know a trick to cause the mist to dissipate by passing a flame across the back of the piece of paper. It's pretty neat and gets peoples attention.

On Friday we were all set to do some more service but this time for a less active guy that we have been stopping by and visiting. He has this big old aquarium that was just extremely grimy and the sides were covered in algae and there was a dead algae eater in there and only one other fish that was alive. So we helped him siphon out the water with a garden hose and then clean it out. And then we got him to come along with us to teach a lesson to another member. It was really great.

So this week has been fun and we'll hopefully have another successful one to write about next week.

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller

Elder Reay going home:


Elder Miller and Elder Miller:


Happy Birthday to Fletcher! (This is a sign that Greta and Jade colored for him)

Hello Everybody,

This week has been spectacular. My new companion is great and has been a wonderful asset to me and this area. He is a well seasoned guy and is really helping me transform Santa Cruz into a great place to be a missionary. The second day I was with him we got into a less active members home and there was also a non-member friend there who was mostly unfamiliar with the church, or at least with the missionaries. We both introduced ourselves as Elder Miller of course and he asked about that. We explained that the Elder part is simply a title and a way to show respect, and he interrupted and said, "yeah yeah, I get the Elder part, but what do you have to do to become a Miller?" That was great, we were careful not to laugh too much and cause him to think we were making fun of him but we quickly explained that we both just happened to have the same last name. That was a really neat experience though. That day we had been fasting, our first full day together as a new companionship and we had started as a whole zone to fast just to try and spruce up the area. And the day wasn't particularly amazing but we were able to teach three lessons which is about on track for where a missionary should consistently try to hit, at least around here it is. Our area has been really low lately and so being average is a mark of improvement. Elder Miller and I have been fumbling around the area, I haven't learned it all quite that well yet so it's like we're discovering it together. It has been an enjoyable week and I'm looking forward to the next few.

Saturday was a major bummer of a day however. Normally the weekend is the best time to reach people all throughout the day. We had a big old list made up of people we wanted to try and visit and get in contact with and of course we expect to miss a few of them and just not connect up at the right time, but this time we didn't find a single person we had planned on dropping by. We blew through our list and then were left just with the worst feeling for missionaries which is just not knowing what to do next. We took a break from trying to find more people and did a little more preparation work by shrinking a map index down to assist us in our navigation efforts.

Sunday was great, we just scheduled a bunch of appointments with some active members and taught them and shared the spirit in their home and all came out the better for it.

My birthday, Monday was alright. We discovered a group of the young men were playing basketball cause of the holiday and they invited us to join so we played some and had fun. Normal laundry and other shopping. Then we actually went to the Delaveaga disc golf course which is supposedly one of the best in the world. Elder Miller got his disc stuck in a tree on the first throw of the day. Had to cut that a little short cause our housing cooridinator was picking up an old dresser from our apartment. And then we had dinner with our Bishop and his wife and it was great. They even got me balloons and baked me a cake. Really quite fun and I was really grateful to them for that.

I wanted to thank everyone who sent me a card or package for my birthday. I love you all.

Sincerely , Elder F. Miller

Hello Everybody,

Well another transfer has come and gone and changes have been made. I was able to travel up to the mission office in San Jose with my companion I've been with for only 6 weeks and see him off. Elder Reay was his name and he was ready to go home yet uncertain what to expect for the future. Also going home was my companion right before him, Elder McKenzie. They're both going home to Utah to make their mark on the world I guess. It was really almost emotional to see two of the missionaries that I have served with stand up in front of everyone along with the others departing and see them all as accomplished missionaries. They have served and done it well. So that was a great start to the day so far. An even better start was finding out who my new companion is. I had a somewhat narrowed list of people that I thought might become my companion and I got my top pick. Our names were called together and I felt like I had won the lottery. President Watkins stood at the podium and was announcing by region the missionaries serving there, grouped into companionships. "Elder C. Miller and Elder F. Miller" No joke, it happened! I stood up from the side pew I was seated at and with eyebrows raised and mouth agape I got super excited and gave a fist pump into the air. I always figured it was bound to happen. This transfer actually marks the arrival of the 5th Elder Miller to enter the mission. My new companion, Elder Clifford Miller from Wisconsin goes home in two more transfers so it looks like I'll be sending off yet another missionary. He came out at the same time as Elder Parker Miller who actually served in the area that I'm in now long before I got here. I come next in seniority being two transfers behind them and then right behind me is Elder Zach Miller. And I believe coming in this transfer is Elder Alexander Miller. CPFZA. So it seems like it was inevitable. I'm really grateful to have my new companion though. So far it's been fun to get confused over our names but then again it's only been a couple hours so it may grow old fast. He is a stellar missionary and will be a grand asset in this area where I am still out of my element and we can learn it all over together. Elder Reay and I depended heavily on the GPS device we had in the car but unfortunately it was Elder Reays' and is now leaving with him back to Utah. Elder C. Miller doesn't have one so we are going to have to remain very aware and on top of where we want to travel and plan it out on the big map on the wall of our apartment before we get going.

So that was all the big news of today. This past week was kind of dull. With a missionary who is going home we spent a lot of time helping Elder Reay prepare for his departure. He wanted to go home with only one suitcase, which at least in our mission is a pretty impressive feat. He mailed home a bunch of stuff and threw away even more. And then he got to say goodbye to a bunch of the members and people he's worked with. On Sunday evening after church and a brief dinner we went up to San Jose for the Missionary Outgoing Fireside. All the missionaries going home share their testimonies and there are many musical numbers. There were 19 missionaries departing this time so that was a lot. Lots of testimonies and songs and it was really neat. We actually went early so Elder Reay could have his exit interview with President Watkins. Normally the interviews are done the night after transfers when the missionaries are already going to the mission home for dinner before they leave but since the departing group was so large President tried to meet with a bunch of them on this evening. Those get togethers are always enjoyable, I was just waiting around for Elder Reay to finish his interview so I got to catch up with other missionaries and it was just great.

Yesterday on our Preparation Day, Elder Reay actually abandoned me so that he could hit up all the skate and surf shops around here and pick up some souvenirs. Okay, he didn't really abandon me, we kind of traded companions for a few hours due to a conflict of interests. I wanted to stay at our apartment in order to make a shirt and I hate going to the skate shops cause I'm never interested in buying any of the merchandise. Meanwhile my district leader and his companion had the same situation. So I got to hang out with my district leaders companion and work on my Santa Cruz shirt. So actually I like the merchandise in the skate shops but am too cheap to buy them so I just made my own. You lose a bit of quality but my self esteem is greatly heightened. And I guess that is all that is up with me.

I wanted to let everyone know that our mission rules regarding e-mail were revised by our mission president. He wants companionships to spend less time on the computer so we are to only send two e-mails, one to him and one to our families. So this massive e-mail that I send to my Mom each week will be my only response to any individual e-mails I get. I think this gets put on a blog somewhere so it's like I'm still writing to you but not directly. This last part is mainly for my immediate family who send me e-mails. Just to let them know that I can still read and enjoy their e-mails to me but can't reply directly back to you.

Have a delightful week everyone,

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller

In December, our family and some friends did a 12 Days of Christmas for Elder Miller. I was assigned to Day 3, which was "Three French Hens". I ended up sending him some stick-on mustaches and asked him to wear them while eating some chicken. He recently sent me some pictures. Enjoy!

*This is Fletcher's email from February 6th*

Hello Everybody,

This week was great. The main event was the bonfire that we kind of helped put on. It was an idea the we generated to create and activity that might bring some of the less active and part member families out and socializing with the other members of the ward. We had a couple of ace bonfire party hosters giving us advice and setting it up so we decided to do it at a little beach that they said was relatively unused and sparse even on weekends. We had spent the first part of the day splitting up with other members of our district to try and concentrate on working in our area alone and scrounge up some further work there. Things have seemed to slow down all around so we are trying to force something exciting to turn up. But we got done with that and headed to the beach to set up only to find that there was a surf competition going on hosted by Volcom. There were like 6 canopies set up and a little stage to interview surfers and there was a bunch of people viewing the sport and no parking to really be found. Luckily this event overlapped with our activity for only about an hour and then the crowds dispersed and the canopies were taken down and parking was easy to find once more.

We had a great time. Tossed a football around on the beach and ate some hotdogs and sat around a fire. The poor part was that none of the families that we were really trying to get to come to the activity made it. We had one guy married to a less active member who was sick. He had been enthusiastic about donating some pallets that he had for us to burn and so we hoped to get him out to the even but he was sick still and didn't make it. We didn't even really want the pallets cause then you'd have to worry about burning them and leaving all the nails from it in the sand but we told him we really appreciated the offer just to use it as a commitment for him to come. And then there is a firefighter with a non-member wife and kids that we were really hoping would be able to make it. We should have invited him from the position that we needed someone to be the safety official and regulate the size of the flame and whatnot. Maybe he would have submitted to some sort of firefighters secret code to always make it their business to control activities involving fire. Maybe then he would have come but we failed to point it out that it was his duty to be present at our little activity. Either way it was fun though and a legitimate excuse for missionaries to be at a beach.

Aside from that our week was pretty tame and the usual trudge. Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which was pretty neat. There are some awesome members who drove us and another set of missionaries down. We had an excellent time and I took a bunch of pictures which I should try and send to someone to publish on my blog cause I don't think I've sent any pictures in a long while. Among the coolest exhibits were the jellyfish. Lots and lots of jellyfish to look at and be weirded out by. I also am a big fan of the octopus. There was this old guy there that I happened to be standing near at a couple of different exhibits and he was just going on and on with seemingly limitless facts about whatever animal was being observed. First I was standing by him and he was talking to some other people about wolf eels and then later on by the octopus he was talking about how the only hard part on an octopus is their beak and if their beak can fit through an opening then the rest of them can. We were looking at this big old octopus and he was saying the size of it's beak is probably about a half dollar, so it can fit though any opening that size. Anyway, it was pretty cool. I don't think he worked there cause he didn't wear a uniform like all the other employees, so either he's a volunteer or just a very knowledgeable man who loves to demonstrate his talent to all the other visitors. The open sea exhibit was perhaps the coolest and the one we spent a lot of time at. It's a large tank and houses the larger fish including two seaturtles that are huge and a couple of hammer head sharks and a sunfish. I guess a larger tank is nicer for the fish but it makes it too easy for them to hide and not easy to photograph. So the trip was awesome and I loved it. We got some free passes luckily cause I think it costs like 33 bucks to go normally. That town has a lot of history and it was neat how it started as a cannery capital and is now all dedicated to conservation of the animals.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller