I'm going to do something different with my emails to put more order in how I write them. I'm going to try to do a day-by-day account of his week, so you can get a better idea of what a week in Tucson is like for me. Hear it is:
Tuesday, April 4: We spent most of the afternoon visiting less
actives. A good way to get to talk to them is to knock on their door,
look like you're real thirsty, and ask for a drink of water. They'll
give you a glass and then they'll have to stand there and wait for you to be finished with the glass. Works almost without fail. We also gave a single sister a blessing since she was going in for a medical procedure that Friday. And we shared a conference message with a part member family. That evening we had a lesson with Jeff - our new investigator in Tanque Verde. We had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon and read 1 Nephi 4 with him. As always, we had to explain why god wanted to have Laban killed, but we seemed to resolve his concern rather easily.
Wednesday, April 5: Most of the day was Zone Conference where we had trainings from the assistants and President and Sister Passey. It's always a great motivator for us. We then got to teach the story of Easter to the Andrews kids (they never get to go to church because their parents are constantly working). That night we met with our high councilman who's over the missionary efforts in the stake. He has been pushing us to invite as many people to the Temple Open House as possible. It's such a great blessing to be in Tucson at this very special time for the city.
Thursday, April 6: I was on exchanges with Elder Hansen, our district leader. We spent a good part of the day helping an older member unload two tons of sand and gravel from the back of his truck. It was a lot of fun. It reminded of all the odd jobs I'd do with Grandpa Kennedy all the time. That night we went on splits with their Ward missionaries to go see some less actives. The one we were assigned to go see wasn't home, so we just ended up talking to his dad who was an active member. Oh well.
Friday, April 7: Weekly planning day - boring. That night the Bonanza Ward was having a Family History potluck. People brought dishes that had to do with their ancestors and the cultures they came from. Some members brought their nonmember neighbors with them and we sat down and talked to them a bit. The husband asked me what college I wanted to go to and I told him I wanted to go to Hillsdale College. It turns out him and his wife are from Michigan and they had a nephew who went to Hillsdale. They called me a "hero" for wanting to go there and getting into constitutional law, haha. We invited them to the Temple Open House and they seemed to have a lot of interested. Can't wait to
see where it goes from there.
Saturday, April 8: Hit my ten month mark - I'm getting old! Sadly, we had to move a great family out of our ward - the Harris'. That took us clear into the afternoon. That evening we had another lesson with Jeff. A family in Tanque Verde Ward named the Decasters had him over for dinner. We taught the Plan of Salvation and I really wanted to invite him to be baptized, but it just wasn't feeling right. It'll have to wait for another day according to the Lord's timing, I suppose.
Sunday, April 9: Fast Sunday. Jeff came to church for the first time!
We sat him up front so he wouldn't have to hear the crying kids so
much and see everyone looking at their phones and whatnot. It was
perfect, he was attentive to it all, and I could see he was really
pondering the things he was seeing and feeling as the sacrament was being administered. That evening we were discussing what we learned in conference with our investigator Ben Zesch. He is so ready for baptism; due to special circumstances he just can't yet. That night as we were about to go in for the night, one of the neighbors of our complex stopped us. We talked to a very troubled man named Robert. He has gotten himself in a bad situation, and he's not sure how much longer his life is going to be spared. He told us he desperately wanted to get closer to God. I simply handed him a Book of Mormon and said reading this book has brought me closer to God. I put it in his hands and he looked down and stared at it in awe for a moment. "Are you sure you want to give this to me?" I assured him I did. He expressed exceeding gratitude for my gift and said he'd begin reading it immediately. We then said a prayer with him and promised to see him again tomorrow. Dare I say it was the most powerful contact I've had on my mission thus far.
That's it. I love you. I miss you. God bless you all.
Elder. Miller
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