Hermana Miller

Dear Family,

It was so good to talk to you this week! Thanks so much for calling me! It was a great time to talk because it was raining outside here, so instead of going out and working in the rain, I got to stay inside and talk to you. :) It was happy.

I don’t have much to report since Sunday. It continued to rain on Monday. Apparently May is the rain-iest month here in PR. It rains really hard when it rains and all the roads change into rivers. It’s cool.

Today was P-day and we are in Arecibo again because we had to come and get our car repaired…there was an unfortunate incident with a telephone pole this week and we needed to take care of that. What happened is this…some of the roads here are really narrow, so we were on a narrow road and we met another car. This always happens. You just have to pull off to the side a little and somehow make two cars fit on a one lane road. It’s totally possible and we do it all the time. This time however, we were right next to a pole…apparently. We didn’t know. Even my companion says it jumped out of nowhere. We thought we were clear, but apparently not and the right mirror was removed. We (using our sister missionary ingenuity) bandaged it up with tape and a handkerchief. We got it fixed today, and it is all better. In the meantime, Sister Reyes sat in the back seat because the door was helping to secure the mirror in place…so we couldn’t open it. I felt so lonely and dangerous up in the front all alone! But she is back in the front next to me now, and I feel good again.

We also went to a beach in Arecibo that was right next to the Arecibo Lighthouse. It was such a beautiful beach! We took a few pictures, and I will attach them for your viewing pleasure.

We are having a birthday party for one of the Elders in our district today and then we are staying the night in Lares because we have a transfer meeting tomorrow morning. I guess there aren’t a lot of changes this transfer. This is our President’s last transfer, which is weird. I’m excited to see how things will be different with a new president, but at the same time, I’m definitely going to miss President and Sister Martineau; they are really cool and teach us so much. They are supportive like you wouldn’t believe and their testimonies are fuerte. I sure do love them and it’ll be hard to see them go.

Thanks again for calling me and I’ll give you more updates next week…I don’t have much more to add to what we discussed two days ago. :)

Love,
Hermana Miller


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1. This is the dog I told you about that had his ears doced so short that he didn't have ears at all. It was so sad! He was a really loving dog though. I liked him.

2. we drive this road once a week and I love this picture because the sky/mountains are in layers of color. Beautiful, no?

3. We found a sweet fairy tale tree this week. I was reminded of the trees that walk in the Lord of the Rings.

4. this is our broken and bandaged car. He's all better now, though.

5. the beach we went to today. It was so beautiful!

6. My companion and I at the beach.

Beaches are a lot more beautiful than I ever thought before coming to PR. I love them now. :)

I love you family! Have a nice day!

xoxo
j

Hello, Family.

This week was a rainy week; it rained for a couple of days, and there were some real torrential downpours too. Several streets turned into rivers, and I guess the actual river overflowed. Wow! It was a lot of rain. One day we went out to toc doors because we really needed to. It was cloudy and threatening outside, and it was even dropping a sprinkle here and there, but we decided to risk it to go find the people who were prepared. We made it to the first house when it started to rain harder. There were only 3 houses on the street, so we decided to go back to a street we hadn't finished earlier this week. We went and when we got out of the car it was raining a little harder, but there were only 2 houses left to do, so we were determined to do them both. We had to climb up two hills to get to the second house, and by that time it was just pouring. Literally. It was kind of like fording a river, walking up the drive to the second house; you could just feel the water streaming through your shoes every time you put your foot down. It got to a point where it didn't matter anymore though because we were just so wet, so it was fun. When we knocked on the second house, the woman we talked to was clearly astonished we were outside and even offered to let us come in and share something just to get out of the rain. She wasn't really interested though, so we went home and changed. It was crazy! My shoes really stink now because they were really wet. I dried them in the sun yesterday though, so they're dry and usable again, I just fear the stench may scare people. I'm looking into remedies for that.

In other news, we have a new investigator! Betsy. We contacted her on the street a week and a half ago or so and she said we could come to her house. Well, the addresses here are not very useful because the houses are not numbered in order (and that is assuming the house has a number). Luckily though, every one knows everyone, so after a while of looking for her last week, we finally found her house (with the help of a few neighbors) and shared the first lesson. She has two young kids (and one of them is named Fabian...cool.) and she kind of reminds me of Carolina, which is cool. While looking for her house the first time, we contacted someone who lives close to her. He said he was interested and we went over to his house for an appointment on Saturday morning. After we talked to him on Saturday morning, we randomly stopped by Betsy's house and she had already read, and she remembered what she read! It was good. We had a nice lesson that talked about the importance of baptism, and she said she would like it if we continued to visit her. So, she is our new investigator.

Other investigators are Candida and Miguel. They are an old couple who are really sweet and receptive to us. They are not the typical old people who like to hear about Jesus but don't do anything about it; they actually read and understand and talk about the reading between themselves before we come back. Lots of old people invite you to come in and share with them, but it's because you talk about Jesus and things, not because they're willing to change. But Candida and Miguel are different. The missionaries found them before I came into the area. We took a member to a lesson this week, and it turned out that Miguel knew her, which was cool. I think that will really help them a lot as they continue studying the gospel. It is so nice to have random "coincidences" like that. :)

Speaking of "random" happenings, we had a contact that we tried to find last Saturday (like I said, the addresses are very vague...you basically have what street they live on, but the street goes all the way up the mountain and the house aren't usually numbered). We didn't find him and he hadn't given us a phone number, so we gave up. Fast forward to Saturday night, we went over to that same area, but a lot higher up the mountain, and who's door did we knock? Angel Gabriel (that is the name of the guy...haha. I think that's kind of funny). He let us in and we taught a first lesson to him and his wife and his wife's friend. It was cool to be led by the spirit to someone who we previously couldn't find.

That is about all the exciting things that happened this week. I am attaching a few pictures that you might enjoy. Hope everything is well at home. I love you.

Love,
Hermana Miller

Dear family,
How is everything at home? I'm happy to hear that you could have an impromtu visit from cousin John this week; what fun! I wish I could have been there to experience what a junk yard is like and to help with the fun of fixing phone jacks and office blinds. It sounds like a good time was had by all.

I have been having fun here in Utuado. It is completely different from Bayamon! Seriously. But I really like it. It is a really small place, so that is the first change. Everyone knows everyone (it seems) or everyone is somehow related. It is pretty cool. Also, everyone knows the missionary that I replaced..."And the other blanquita?" they tell me, "Where is she?" She was here for 7 months, so I guess it is kind of like she was part of the town by the time she left.

Also, going door knocking is completely different. We live in a town in a small mountain valley, so everyone in the surronding area lives in the mountains. When we knock doors it is kind of like going on a 2 or 3 hour hike everyday. Seriously! We just park on the side of the road somewhere and climb these really steep roads that have little houses nestled here and there. It is really cool because the people really do just live on mountain sides. I wish you could see it.

Like I said last week, it is an absolutely beautiful area and it is exciting to be here. The wildlife is gorgeous and it is overcast a lot. There is still a lot of sun, but it is also a lot more cloudy here than it was over in Bayamon. It is also not very hot (but we still sweat plenty climbing all the hills); in the high 70s, low 80s. Quite lovely, actually. I like it here.

The branch is completely different. It is very small, but that is an important experience to have to, I think. They depend on us as missionaries a lot. For example, we taught Relief Society/Priesthood last week and we also gave talks in sacrament meeting (I guess we speak once a month). The branch has several new converts, and the Relief Society president is a recent convert (she was sick this week, and that is why we taught). So work is progressing in the area, but as in all areas, the hard thing is retention. We really need to work hard to keep the recent converts converted.

We teach an English class on Saturday nights. That was stressful to hear about, because my companion doesn't speak much English, so that means I teach an English class on Saturday night. We haven't had the class yet though, because it was canceled for the week we had conference and then the people who attend didn't realize it was back on the last two weeks. If you have any ideas, let me know! We (apparently) just play games and stuff with vocabulary and work on phrases. For example, they played a charades-type game the week before conference with occupation words. Let me know what sorts of games you think would be good.

We basically have one investigator, Carlos. But oh, what an investigator! He is awesome. He has been to church several times and a lot of people all ready think he is a member. He stays after church to put away the chairs as the members scurry home. He is a retired humanities professor, so loves to read and study. He knows the bible quite well and likes to read The Book of Mormon. I guess he was listening to missionaries 20 years ago or so, but one of them stole a Rubik's cube from his house, and so he said don't come back. (Sad, right? You can't do stupid things like that as a missionary!) But, he is listening again now and progressing well. We have been teaching him the Plan of Salvation recently, and it is cool because he completely agrees with everything we say that is sometimes a point of controversy for other investigators. He is very prepared. It is hard to teach him sometimes though because he has a difficult accent for me to understand, and also he likes to read the bible to us. Which is fine, except for I don't really understand the Bible in Spanish. There is some strange vocabulary in there, and so I often get lost when he pulls out a Bible scripture. But, my native-speaking companion takes care of it all, and it's good. He is a really cool guy and we're excited that he is progressing so much.


I hope all is well at home. I sure do love you all and thank you for your support! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Miller

ps. I saw an interesting contraption this week; we were in the home of a member and she had (what looked like) a tennis racket sitting on her table. Innocent enough, right? Innocent until a mosquito flys by. She saw a mosquito and picked up the racket and swings at him. We know that she got the mosquito because there was an electric sound. It's a mosquito stunner! There were definitely sparks. It definitely scared me. I kind of want to go back and try it though.



We had a kickball game as a zone last week. It was a lot of fun! These are the sisters in our zone. That's right; just us four. We are also in the same district, which is what makes our district awesome.


I discovered that the best way to get dogs to stop barking at you is to befriend them. So, in addition to befriending lots of people (sometimes grumpy), we also befriend lots of grumpy dogs (who are really just excited). This one looked exactly like Aki, so we took a picture. It was like being with family again! I almost kissed it, but right before I did I remembered that it was a random dog wandering the streets...bad idea (to touch it, never mind to kiss it).


This is us on top of a mountain we recently climbed. The "city" you can see in the background is downtown Utuado. "The Pueblo" as it is known here. Beautiful, right?

Here I am in Utuado! It is a very country area and huge (geographically). Wow. I was in a realy city,city area before, and this is completely different! Let me tell you though. If I thought Puerto Rico was beautiful before, it was only because I could see the campo in the distance. When you are actually in the campo, wow! Breath-taking. Seriously. My new companion is Hermana Reyes, who is from Guatemala. She is really nice and very easy to get along with, which is great. We live "downtown" in the pueblo, which is nice. We have a pay-less and a Walgreens and a McDonald's nearby. Everything you could possibly need! Oh. And another establishment that basically confirmed to me that I am in the right place. I will provide photographic evidence and explain myself shortly (hopefully next week, depending on time).

Exciting news about the apartment: it has a piano! Woo hoo! Well. Not exactly a piano. Just a keyboard, but still...it's a step up from nothing. It definitely distracts me from doing things like writing in my journal, going to bed early, folding clothes and washing dishes, but it is a good distraction. It just makes me a little happier every time I use it. Also, the ceilings are high enough to jump rope inside! Also cool. Downside to the apartment: no hot water! I know! It is crazy! But, it is just more motivation for me to work out in the morning so I'm really hot and want that cold water. Also, more bugs and bigger bugs. My legs look like they have a really bad case of the chicken pox, they've been bitten so badly, and on my first morning in the apartment I saw a cockroach the size of my thumb. It was rather disgusting.

Besides the bugs and the cold water, Utuado is beautiful. It is nice and cool here...80-85 every day, which is definitely an upgrade from Bayamon weather, which was already in the 90's. The funny thing is I really do feel like it is cool. It is cool because we live in the mountains. There are winding roads and lots of bamboo. Random, right? But really. There are large clumps of bamboo shoots everywhere. It is cool. The houses are farther apart, and you have to hike mountains to get to them. The roads that go up these mountains are of the one lane variety and also have tight curves, so you have to honk your horn as you come upon a curve to warn others who may also be coming the other direction. It was kind of weird at first, but now I'm used to it. I have also learned about a "new" gear in the car. It is called "Low" (I think) and you use it when you're going up or down really steep hills so you don't hurt your engine. There are some hills that are so steep here that you are going up and you can't see over the nose of your car because it is pointing too far up. It is all very adventurous and I am thoroughly enjoying myself.

We also went to conference this weekend. There are some sisters in Lares, the pueblo next door to Utuado, and we picked them up so that the Elders in Lares could use their (the Sister's) car. We went up to Arecibo to watch the conference, and wasn't it the best? I loved it! There were several talks that I really enjoyed and I am excited to read them again. I really liked Elder Christofferson's talk and also Elder Bednar's talk. Did you notice his point #3? That is what he talked to us about! I think everyone should read his talk "Seek learning by faith," whcih isn't a conference talk, but should be available from CES. It is a great talk that is kind of an extension of his point #3 from Saturday. Read it. You'll love it. We (our mission) love it. I like the conference right around (or in this case on) Easter because it focuses so much on Jesus Christ and His life and resurrection. It was a really wonderful weekend that just went too fast. We got to stay in the apartment of the Lares Sisters on Saturday and Sunday night,which was cool because it was just like a great slumber party...that ended at 10:30. Haha. But we like going to bed at 10:30 (and that is the truth! All Returned missionaries know that). It was really fun. The sisters are also in our district, so we get to see them a lot, which will be great. They are really cool.

I am excited to work in the area and get to know it better. I don't know what it will be like working in the country like this, but it should be exciting to find out.

Hope every one had a great conference/Easter weekend! I was thinking of you all when every one was talking about families. :)

I love you,
Hermana Miller

Or, at least off to see Puerto Rico. That's right; I'm getting transferred! We are actually both getting transferred. How sad! They are taking Sisters out of Caparra. You should have seen the response in Relief Society when we told everyone we were leaving. Everyone was all in uproar. Haha. It is nice to know we are loved. We made a lot of visits yesterday to people to say goodbye and such, and there were definitely some tears (not from us, although we are definitely sad to leave the place). I am going to miss this ward so much! The people here are awesome, and I really feel like they are my family. I feel like I have found some extra mothers and grandmothers here and I'm going to miss them tons.

I am definitely going to miss our investigators too. Carolina and her son Cristian are now in the hands of the Elders in our ward, and that makes me sad. Carolina continues to face trials and difficulties, but also continues to stay strong. She found out this week she has to be out of her apartment within the next month, for one reason or another. She had just looked at a new apartment and was walking down the street and someone held her up and took her handbag and her phone. We went to visit her and we're like "How have you been?" Carolina is really cool and calm and doesn't over-react about things and she said "Well, I don't feel so good because someone assaulted me today." And for a second, we just kind of sat there, making sure we understood it right, and she told us they took her phone and her handbag, which had lots of important papers because earlier that day she had gone to do something with the government, so she lost her SS card and all her identification etc. It is absolutely amazing what Satan is throwing at her. I almost feel bad for kind of bringing it on to her, but she knows that she has the truth and is still fighting for it. We went over to her house last night with the Elders to tell her we were leaving and she told us they were going to miss us. She says Cristian is always saying "The Sisters haven't come recently, mom!" and he is always excited when we come. Oh, he is so cute! I'm going to miss them tons. After the Elders left, Carolina asked if even though Cristian wasn't born in the church if he could be a missionary too when he grew up, and we're like "Of course!" She was very excied to hear that. I just love her so much! And I'm so sad the Elders are taking over. We can't even see her baptism, or help her as a recent convert. I am just so, so sad. We took pictures with them and I'll attach them. Cristian sings Follow the Prophet all the time. I just love him too. He is the sweetest little thang.

Another investigator we're sad to leave is also someone we toc-ed into, last week. Her name is Raysa. She is amazing. So humble too, and so ready to learn. She is from the DR and was really sad to hear we were going. We left her a Book of Mormon last week and assigned her a chapter to read. When we came back, she had read the chapter, and the introduction and the testimonies and everything. The book we gave her had the testimony of a member in it, and it really touched her heart. I know that she is going to accept the gospel as the Elders continue to teach her and that her life is going to change and improve through the gospl. She has two really cute little kids too. At first I thought one of them was called Hedwig (which would have been awesome), but alas, it is Herber.

It was sad to say goodbye to all the members on Sunday and Monday and we're really going to miss them, but that is just part of the mission, right? We have to move and go meet new awesome investigators and members. I'm mostly just sad that we are both going. We have worked in this area for 3 transfers, and we had a really good hold on it finally, and now they're kicking us out. I opened this area with Hermana Lopez and I really do just feel like it is my home, and now we lose it. Anyway. I can't think about it anymore. The investigators are strong and are going to continue strong in the gospel too. I'm sad to get a new companion too, but it'll just be a new opportunity to learn new things.

I love you all! I'll let you know next week where I am and what the area is like and all that good stuff.

Love,
Sister Miller.