Hello Everyone,

I was actually just perusing the updated lds.org website and I think it's awesome that it let's you log on and check out an online ward directory. Unfortunately I didn't recognize most people in the ward so I'll have a lot of greeting to do when I get back to the Maplewood ward I guess. This past week had some great parts to it. Foremost of which (I hope this doesn't unveil my mixed up priorities but,) we got a new car. My current companion has been vying for a new car for quite some time now, and not just any new car it is a brand new Chevy Cruze. I think my companion would have gotten the car no matter what cause he was pretty much the only missionary aware of it's coming and bothered to pester our Vehicle Coordinator for it. The fact that we serve in Santa Cruz makes it way cooler that we have a car called the Cruze however. It's pretty nice. I've noticed there isn't as much leg room as in the Malibu we had but the turning radius is much better and that is a trade that I am fine with since mission rules state that the passenger must exit the vehicle and signal the driver whenever the car is backing out. Better turning radius means that I don't have to get out of the car in the rain and look like a dork as often. It's a shorter car but the trunk space is surprisingly good. Upon inspection our district leader said in appreciation "Wow, you could probably fit four dead bodies in here." I'd say two living bodies though cause four would be uncomfortable if you could feel it.

New car aside the week was good. We have an investigator that is progressing nicely. He has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and that is really all it takes. He knows that it is true and whenever he comes to us with concerns, we can give him answers and they are true but he's never convinced until he studies it out himself and finds his own answer through the Book of Mormon. At first it seemed like it would be no problem to get this man to the waters of baptism and then we met with him some more and he seemed less certain on some things. The next time we saw him he said, "I know that I want to be baptized and soon." We asked how he had come to this decision so assuredly and he just said that he was reading in the Book of Mormon and found a section talking about the importance of baptism and it moved him.

On Sunday we managed to make it over to San Jose for the departing missionary fireside. Our investigator made us really late but it was great to get to go and see the finishing missionaries bear their testimonies and also the testimonies of some very strong recent converts and hear the beautiful music we could sing all together. The investigator we brought tends to be very open and we accidentally introduced him to Sister Watkins, the wife of our Mission President, and this resulted in Sister Watkins being stuck listening to our investigators life story for 20 minutes. He's a talker alright. We also were able to bring with us a less active member who we have been meeting with and a guy in the Singles Branch who hasn't made up his mind about whether to serve a mission or not. He'd make a great missionary but I think all the pressure from church members is having the opposite affect on him, causing him to push back.

Today was transfer day and both of the district leaders in the Santa Cruz zone were switched up. My new district leader is an Elder that I've seen around but never gotten to know like at all so it will be great to get to know him better.

On Thursday we were able to go and do Habitat for Humanity again and it was lots of fun. It's a good work out and also kind of relaxing to pound some nails into a floor. It's really neat to see the construction at like week intervals and notice slight changes and try and envision what the final product will look like. I guess I should probably say something to that effect about my investigators as well. It's neat to see them make changes over time and look forward to the growth that they will make in their knowledge and understanding.

We were also able to do some service at a soup kitchen that we go to every week but this time we got a less active member that we have been working with to come along, actually he volunteered and invited his girlfriend and roommate to come and the Elders Quorum President came along as well. Some of the other volunteers seemed a little unsure, like the Mormons were taking over their Catholic Soup Kitchen, but most of them are super friendly. Actually there are quite a few UCSC students at the soup kitchen and a few visits ago my companion got talking to one of them and they were interested in all the same stuff. Japanese culture, anime, math, D&D, you know, nerd stuff. But she is a poor college student and so welcomed the invitation to any activities we might host that involve a free meal or refreshment and we got her to come to an ice cream social that the single adult branch held and it was great. We couldn't stay but for 10 minutes cause it went past our curfew but we heard that she had a great time and we were very excited about that. Then we are planning another activity that will take people on a tour of their own death, but in delicate terms, fictitiously put on as a plane ride in the chapel that crashes. It should be fun, my companion and I will act as post mortal guides, showing the "deceased" through the plan of salvation.

That's about it for me. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the times.

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller

Hi Everybody,

Let's see...what has been going on? Well last Monday we had a Zone activity and were able to meet up with all the missionaries around and just hang out on the beach. It was orchestrated alright. Some missionaries brought a charcoal grill, others brought some fruit, we were in charge of drinks which we did a good job of and I did recognize that cups would be an issue and so I suggested to my companion that we just get a couple boxes of Capri Sun cause they come individually ready to drink. I don't think he understood my reasoning and got one box of those and then a big jug of fruit punch. I think he thought I was just trying to be cheap but that was only half of my reasoning. Lo and behold at the beach everyone was thirsty and the capri suns were all taken and the fruit punch was untouched for want of cups until I cut the top off my capri sun pouch and used it like a cup and a couple of other missionaries followed. I was pretty proud of myself and then realized that I am definitely my fathers son.(which I was still proud of) But yeah, it was nice to be at the beach, no where near the water, but on sand and getting to toss a frisbee and a football around. The senior couple brought all the expensive food, namely the hot dogs and burgers and so it was fun. Also the senior couple had a couple of their grandkids(returned missionaries) with them so it added to the numbers and made it a more legitimate party.

Let's see, this week as goals all of the companionships had goals to get a Perfect Week which is defined as teaching 20 lessons and contacting 140 people. We'd been doing about that on lessons but our street contacting number has been pretty low the past few weeks and so we had to focus in on that. In the end we were able to make it with a little additional trips downtown passing out mormon.org cards to the hordes of weekend shoppers.

It rained all this past week and was a little miserable. Made me so glad that we have a car. And I'm not sure I shared this yet but my companion even before he was here had been buttering up our vehicle coordinator cause he had heard that there was a brand new car coming in to the mission and my companion really wanted it. The car just so happens to be a new Chevy Cruze. So when my companion came to Santa Cruz he knew he now had an even more compelling case for getting the car. There is only going to be one Chevy Cruze in the mission so it is only right that it ends up in Santa Cruz. We had it semi-confirmed that my companions schemes have worked and that when the car does get here we'll be the ones to get it. It just worked out perfectly that our car is about ready to be retired.

Anyway, the miracle of this week is that we were able to get a new investigator. It's not exactly the most magical of cases. He is a guy who has been coming to church every now and again and everyone assumed he was a member but technically he had his membership removed cause his family laid on a lot of pressure after he was baptized but now he wants back in the church. For us he is technically a new investigator and if we baptize him he'll count. So like I was saying it's not the most romantic of missionary tales but still a soul is a soul to our Heavenly Father and the worth of which is great. So that was pretty neat. We just set up a lesson with him and it was obvious that he was kind of lacking on fully understanding the gospel so we were just going to start meeting with him to help him learn more but now we have a new investigator who will likely get baptized. He's a nice guy though a little weird and also homeless. He lives out of his truck which he likes cause he is dedicated to surfing and so likes to just sleep right by the ocean and when the surf is good he goes for it. He's at least got a job and is working on getting another part time job.

In other news, well there is really not too much else going on. We are still trying to just teach a bunch. Visiting less active members has proven really good. We started teaching the grandson of a lady that is semi-active and she started coming more and we hope that the Grandson will gain a worthwhile interest. He is only 11 and so it's not very likely that he'll progress much without the guidance of his athiest father or alcoholic mother. The mother we counted as a new investigator but haven't been able to meet with her again yet. She had investigated the church once but was more doubtful than her parents and siblings and so didn't join with them. Really she just feels like she has to know a lot more and so maybe we can answer most of her questions and get her interested again. But often times it will come to a point where they start asking questions that really don't matter and sometimes we can't even answer them. Eventually it becomes a kind of stalling method and then it just comes down to whether or not they can get an answer for themselves about the Book of Mormon and just accept that no one knows everything but that doesn't mean that we don't know enough.

This past week we gave a lot of blessings to ladies. We have made it a point of trying to visit single sisters (generally older) who don't normally get the missionaries visiting often because we have the rule that we have to have an adult male accompany us. But we have been getting guys to come with us and so it's been great to get to know all the old gals in the ward better. And then they inevitably take advantage of the opportunity of having the priesthood in their homes again to get a blessing. Really this just affirms to me the importance of home teaching. It is a shame that home teaching is often not done. I mean I know why, I was a horrible home teacher before my mission. I can only promise that I'll do better when I return. Maybe I shouldn't put this in print though cause my future elders quorum president will have something to hold against me. But seriously, it's nice to visit these ladies and help in any way we can.

This is the last week of the transfer and one of the missionaries in the neighboring ward is going home so it will be sad to see him leave cause he's a great guy. And then we have conference coming up which is exciting. Since it is really close to transfers though we have put our corresponding temple trip back a couple weeks so we will go after transfers to avoid a lot of confusion. So I'm looking forward to General conference and then going to the Temple again. It feels like it's been way more than 6 months since the last time we went.

I hope you all have a great week.

Sincerely, Elder Miller

Hello Everybody,

This week has been mostly fantastic. Last Sunday we had a family tell us that they were signed up for dinner on Monday and that they were going to have a family there for us to teach. When that time came we were super excited. We had a nice dinner and then were able to share much of the message of the restoration of the gospel with them. Then we asked if they would be willing to be baptized when they knew for themselves that what we taught was true and they said sure. It was great and then we scheduled with them to tour the chapel on the following evening.

On Tuesday we were in San Jose for the whole first part of the day. First we had interviews with our mission President and it was just our Zone so we were there pretty early. After a few of us had been interviewed and were just waiting around president Watkins asked us if we'd already had breakfast and gave us 40 bucks and sent us to McDonalds to get some grub. It was pretty cool, I'd eaten some toast that morning but an extra big breakfast plate was a welcome addition. The rest of our mission showed up after that as we were being addressed by Elder L. Tom Perry and also Elder Richard G. Maynes and their wives. That was pretty terrific. Elder Maynes spoke about how as missionaries we are looking for what he called "searchers", people prepared and ready and looking for the gospel. And he said they are like a needle in a haystack and we need a magnet to get them out easily. That magnet was compared to the members and how they are a kind of filter for finding the right people, prepared people. Not really anything new but he did have a power point presentation animating the magnet and haystack and needle so it was pretty impressive and seemed new. And Elder Perry mainly talked about how we are in the midst of a great "mormon moment". I think he works closely with the public affairs cause he was mentioning that a lot of press has been seeking interviews from the church and what with the broadway play and the presidential candidates and apparently some guy doing the temple work for a holocaust victim, a lot of attention is being payed to the church and it doesn't matter if it's good or negative cause ultimately it just manifests as more questions be asked by people interested in what we believe. Elder Perry was really energetic and actually cracking quite a few jokes and telling some fun stories so it was a delightful meeting. An interesting part he got speaking about was how the President of the church is placed. He mentioned that he is the number 2 apostle after Elder Packer. "Now we don't walk around wearing jerseys that display our number but we all know them, Elder Christensen is number 12." He was just saying that it's not a popularity contest. There are the senior apostles if Elder Packer is meant to be the next President then when President Monson dies Elder Packer will assume the role but if it is meant to be someone else then the apostles ahead of the person that is meant to be the President will be "called home". I thought that that was really interesting cause I've never had it spelled out like that before to me.

That evening we were able to give a chapel tour to the family that we had taught the previous evening and we were kind of late and they had some fidgety kids so the chapel tour wasn't the best but it was alright. We took the opportunity to kind of reteach the first lesson cause the husband hadn't been with us the firs time. We tried to offer them an exact date on which to be baptized but they declined saying that they were pretty tied up in the middle of an adoption process that keeps being put back. So they may be a slower progressing family than we initially hoped but they are being fellowshipped by a really great family so we hope they will come along nicely.

On Wednesday we had the great pleasure of going to lunch with a senior couple that has been serving in the zone but are finishing their mission and so they took us to eat at Applebee's. It was fun and good but sad to see them go. They actually leave tomorrow but that was their last day of having district meeting so that is the customary time to say goodbyes. I guess the Senior couples don't follow our transfer schedule. They must be serving like exactly 18 months and so they'll just drive home.

On Thursday I was with another Elder all day for exchanges and it was a great day we were able to teach quite a few lessons and did some service for Habitat for Humanity nailing up a ton of plywood. Well we actually only did a few sheets of plywood but each one takes like 50 nails and it was a lot of hammering and my hand would cramp up. My companion for the day was less familiar with construction type work than me and so struggled with the hammer a bit. At one point we were on ladders and he was nailing plywood around the opening of where a window is going to be and he missed and threw his hammer through the window opening and down into another section of the house. Lucky he didn't hit anyone. I was reminded of that movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" when they are at the barn raising and the brothers rivals pick fights with them. One of them "drops" a hammer on one of the brothers heads. Anyway, a big brawl didn't break out which ultimately demolished the home we were supposed to be building. Instead the hammer just hit the ground and no one was harmed. We all wore hard hats anyway.

I'm running out of time but the rest of the week was great and now we are supposed to throw a beach party as a zone activity so we'll see how that works out, I can see storm clouds out the window, or maybe the window is just tinted. Anyway hope you all have a great week.

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller

Hello Everyone,

My past week was pretty great. We finally got a new investigator who is actually a former investigator but that still counts. We had just planned to visit a less active woman in the ward and while we were there we met her daughter. They were very open and frank about all their feelings towards the church and everything and we were able to simply offer to come back and answer some of the questions that they have. The daughter had been involved when her mother and father were investigating the church a number of years ago but she had been more skeptical and hesitant than the rest of her family and so they sort of ostracized her and made her feel bad for not just jumping on the bandwagon. Honestly she seems like the type that will never do what another person wants her to do. A rebel to the core. Her first sentence when she came in and sat down was to state that she found our church services extremely boring and too serious. But she still has questions and is willing to listen to the answers that we can provide so we are excited to teach her and she also has a son who has expressed interest in religion. And I think she is the kind of free spirited mother who would demand that her son choose for himself and then support whatever his decision may be. So her son may be more likely to get baptized than she would but we hope that they will both receive the Gospel to a good understanding and make a decision together.

Last night we were called upon by another less active woman we have visited cause her non member husband needed a hand moving a set of steps. We were glad to help and I think it did great things in terms of our relationship with this man who has avoided becoming a member of the church for so many years. Earlier in the week we were able to teach them and their grandson who lives with them just a simple lesson on faith again using the magic pen where the ink disappears with the fire. They thought it was the coolest thing and that was great again cause we are building a relationship with this young man who has been leading a rough life.

Tomorrow we as a mission are going to receive a visit from Elder L. Tom Perry and that is most exciting. We actually have to be there way early for interviews with our mission president and then we will be addressed by Elder Perry and see what revelation we can gain from that. And that about sums up the week I guess.

Thanks to all who read this and respond to me. Congratulations to my cousin who got married and to my sister who seems popular about getting offered internships.

Sincerely, Elder F. Miller

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