Elder Millar

June 2, 2012

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:09:00 -0500

Family!

This week was a good and interesting one. We got a lot done and felt the Spirit while doing it. Goooooood times. I’m really enjoying my mission!

In last week’s news, Dawn and her daughter Heather were baptized last Saturday (over a week ago). In all the excitement of last week, I seem to have forgotten to mention that awesome fact. Yay for making the decision to enter the Fold of God!

Elder Oakey is feeling much better this week. I believe I told you last week that he was suffering from undefined stomach pains. He talked on the phone to a doctor Monday night and found out that his stomach was producing too much acid. We nabbed him some Prilosec OTC and he hasn’t complained since. Problem solved!

Wednesday, we were “prayed” to the Van Dyke’s home. We didn’t have anything pressing to do so we just followed the Spirit. We ended up at the Van Dyke’s home and didn’t know why. After a short discussion, we found out that Brother Van Dyke was about to go into the hospital for some crazy procedures and was very nervous. We asked him if we could do anything and he started to get a bit emotional. He said that he’d been praying that something would happen to help him. He asked us if we could give him a Priesthood blessing which we gladly did.

In other news, we had a good lesson with Jason on Thursday where we taught him the Word of Wisdom. The lesson went well although he was nervous about giving up the substances that he’s addicted to.

On Friday, we spent a long time doing some therapeutic service with a shovel. We dug up, steamed, and skinned beets with Sister Johnson. It was a good break. It’s wonderful how mind-clearing physical labor can be.

The last bit of news is that Elder Oakey bought a retro typewriter about a week ago that was broken. He didn’t know it was broken and was rather bummed when he found out. I told him that I could fix it so I set to work. It was a four-day-long project, but I ended up reverse engineering his typewriter and getting it to work perfectly. I felt pretty awesome having helped him out and beat a piece of ancient technology into submission. Booya!

That’s about it for the week! I’ll see if I can shoot you some pictures next P-Day. Enjoy your week and stay strong in the Faith!

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

P.S. Got this email from Dawn after her baptism. Thought you’d enjoy the short sentiment since you got such a kick out of Sister Simmons’ letter.

Dawn doesn’t call me “Elder Millar”, she calls me “Jesse”. She’s so funny!

Hey Jesse,

I just want to thank you so much for helping me find my faith and helping to guide Heather and me on this wonderful journey. You are a wonderful young man, and have become part of our family.

Jesse’s mother received this special note in the mail!

Sun, 27 May 2012 22:56:00 -0500

Jesse’s mother received this special note in the mail!

May 27, 2012

Sun, 27 May 2012 22:55:03 -0500

Hey, family! I love P-Days because it means that I can communicate with you guys!

This week’s been a doozy. We’ve had an abundance of spirituality, hard work, good conversation, and boredom. Sounds like the recipe for success if you ask me!

Last P-Day was where the boredom came in. We were planning on spending the day with a member family, but it didn’t work out for them so we ended up leaving by late morning. Bummer. We spent the rest of the day being bored, because we had nothing to do and didn’t want to hang out with the other elders. We were able to help the Hemingway family a bit in the evening though.

Tuesday was significantly better. It was the day for interviews with President Neider, but we had time for some service before President arrived. We helped out the Hemingways again. They are a super solid, recent convert family, and are in the process of moving in, so Brother Hemingway needed assistance unloading all his tools and such into his new garage. He is a professional mechanic who seriously knows his stuff which means he has loads of equipment. We moved a couple 1,000 pound tool boxes and maneuvered some crazy metal-working tools for him. Good workout!

Interviews were very long, but they ended well and President saw things from our perspective. He told us that he really wanted to keep me and Elder Oakey together because we are a dream team. He told us that he was going to pray about what he should do and that he’d give us a phone call with the final details. We still haven’t received the call, but Oakey and I are still together which is what we wanted.

Wednesday was a day of serious work. With the stress of interviews off our shoulders, Elder Oakey and I just let go and followed the Spirit. We met with a whole bunch of people, said some epic prayers, gave a cool blessing, taught a few things, and generally had an amazing day. It’s fantastic what you can accomplish when both missionaries genuinely WANT to work!

Thursday marked a visit with Jason (one of my former investigators from Overton who recently moved here to Logandale). The Logandale elders hadn’t really visited him in a while so we swung by. The meeting went incredibly well. Jason told us that he wanted to get baptized, that he’d been praying about the Book of Mormon, that he’d felt the Spirit, and that he knew he needed to get married to his fiance in order to get baptized. Sweet! We’re going to meet with him again tomorrow. Here’s hoping he keeps up the pace!

Friday revolved around service and microwaves. The Hemingways asked us to swing by in the morning to pick up some lasagna. When we got there, they handed us the plate and said that they wanted us to have it because they didn’t have a microwave to heat it with. We took the food and promptly set out on an adventure. We wanted to find the Hemingways a microwave. We gave the matter some thought and decided that we should swing by Sister Chow’s house. She is friends with a girl who goes to storage unit auctions, so she has a bunch of “junk” sitting on her forty acres of land. We asked her if she had a microwave lying around. She led us around back and plopped a perfectly good microwave into our arms. She also told us we could have a fridge if we wanted which was sweet because the Hemingways also needed a fridge. We delivered the goods and felt awesome!

Saturday morning, we occupied ourselves with some service. Later in the day, we had a couple, very short lessons that somehow resulted in two new investigators. I’m still not sure how that worked, but I’m not complaining! Woo! New people to teach!

We met a great family that really wants to get back to church. We figure that fellowship and friendship is what they need, so we spent Saturday night playing pool and foosball with them. I won once at pool and Elder Oakey won once. Fun times.

Sunday went decently well. We didn’t have as many investigators come as we were hoping for, but that’s alright. After the third ward, we went home so Elder Oakey could rest since he was feeling awful. After resting for a bit, we decided to cancel everything for the night so he could relax. We called Sister Neider and asked for permission to go the doctor today, but no response. I wonder what’s causing so much abdominal pain… We’ll get him to the doctor soon.

That’s our week! I’m looking forward to an even better one this week. It’s great to be Elder Oakey’s companion. I’m really enjoying his spirit and company. It’s such a blessing to be on a mission!

I hope you all have a great time these next couple days. Remember to pray hard and listen to the Spirit. The Gospel is what brings true happiness. I know that for a fact. I love you all!

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

Horribly Ugly P-day Ties!

Sun, 27 May 2012 22:53:51 -0500

Horribly Ugly P-day Ties!

May 19, 2012

Sat, 19 May 2012 21:57:00 -0500

Excerpts from an email conversation between a Missionary and his Mom:

My Darling Boy,

I loved Skyping and talking with you on the phone on my birthday / Mother’s Day. You looked handsome, mature, and cheerful. It did my heart good to see you smile so freely. I feel immensely grateful that you are doing better, and I know a big part of that is because you are currently with Elder Oakey. Please give Elder Oakey our love and thank him for his friendship to you. He is an answer to my prayers, as your adoring and concerned mother.

I am grateful to know that Heavenly Father loves you more than I do, so I can always trust that you are in His hands as you serve Him on this mission. He is great and good and I am thankful to know Him through prayer and service.

You are precious to me and I am absolutely thrilled that you continue to serve the Lord each day, even when things are so difficult for you. I read your patriarchal blessing again this morning and felt comforted by the beautiful words of your blessing. I know that the Lord is shaping you to better serve Him and your future family. It is a blessing to know that each trial and challenge is for your temporal and spiritual growth. Thankfully, none of it is going to waste. It is amazing to watch your life unfold before my eyes. While it has not always been perfectly easy, it has always been perfectly wonderful to be your mother.

You are my angel boy and I love you more than words can tell. Have a beautiful day with your friend, content in the knowledge that your whole family thinks the world of you.

Hugs and kisses,
Mom

Mommy!

I adored Skyping and talking on the phone as well. What a treat it is to see my family and discover that they’re doing well. Elder Oakey is definitely a blessing and strength for me. I’m hoping and praying that I get to stay with him for a while.

I did enjoy talking to you all as much as you seemed to enjoy talking to me. It was a wonderful opportunity to communicate in such an immediate way. I’m glad that my countenance pleased you. I’m very glad that my present situation makes it easier for me to smile and live happily.

You’re really a strength and role model for me. I look forward to celebrating your next birthday in person next year (although a bit belated)! I love you completely and am incredibly grateful for all you’ve done for me.

Love you forever,
Jesse

May 12, 2012

Sat, 12 May 2012 20:05:06 -0500

Monday was a very exciting day! After emails we headed over to one of our member’s houses to learn how to pole vault. Who woulda thought that I’d ever get the opportunity to do that? Elder Oakey and I spent two hours honing our skills with a fourteen-foot pole. We both were able to clear an eight-foot-high barrier by the end of our training.

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders last Wednesday which was the impetus for some deep pondering. Elder Talbot was the zone leader who stayed with me in Overton. We finished up our nightly work at about 8:30 pm, then we spent forty minutes talking in a parked car. He gave me a lot of information to chew on. He and I are really similar so he was able to give me legitimate advice that sparked many ideas of my own.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were almost completely dedicated to our investigator, Dawn. She’s progressing very well. If all goes according to plan, she’ll be baptized on May 19th. I’m super glad to have met her family.

On Sunday, Matt was confirmed a member of the Church and received the Holy Ghost. Sweet! We stood in the circle and Bishop Brown was the voice. Matt’s a super cool kid (I included a photo of him with this blog post). The ward is lucky to have him.

That’s about all I’ve got for the week! I hope you all are doing well and are continuing onward. Life is honestly good even though things can get rough. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

Matt followed his Mom’s example!

Sat, 12 May 2012 17:37:48 -0500

Matt followed his Mom’s example!

May 3, 2012

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:11:00 -0500

Hey family,

Monday consisted of a trip to Vegas with my companion and Elder Oakey for transfers. The most exciting happening was the workout we got early in the morning. We left Overton at 4am and arrived in Vegas at 5am. Since we had nothing but time on our hands, Elder Oakey suggested that we head over to Oscar’s house for a morning workout. Oscar is an awesome athletic guy who coaches MMA and loves teaching missionaries how to work out. I’d heard a lot about Oscar from other missionaries, but I didn’t think he could actually live up to all the hype that surrounded him. I’m glad that I was wrong! Oscar was awesome! Not only did he know how to work out, but he knew how to teach and tutor us in ways that made us feel like winners. He was hilarious to boot! We focused on our legs in addition to some general AB workout and sparring with boxing gloves (no human-to-human contact, just gloves-to-practice-pads). He kept telling us that we were going to be super sore the next day, but I didn’t believe him because I felt like I was holding up just fine. I was wrong. Ouch. Elder Lambson and I could barely move for the next two days! I’m doing much better now, but Oscar definitely taught me loads about the limits of my body!

On Wednesday, we had a great teaching appointment with Matt. He’s a nineteen-year-old kid who watched his mom get baptized a couple years ago. He was so surprised by the change that she’s gone through because of the Gospel (stopping drinking, an increase of the Spirit, a kinder attitude, etc.) that he decided that he wanted baptism for himself. He actually approached us at the end of sacrament meeting last week and told us flat-out that he wanted to be baptized. He’d been taught by multiple missionaries in the past, but none of them had tried to set him for baptism. We met with him on Wednesday, quickly verified his sincerity, and then asked him when he wanted to be dunked. He surprised us by asking if Sunday was an option. Whoa! We jumped on the boat and got everything set up and ready for Sunday. It was a bit of a struggle, but Matt was baptized yesterday. He’ll be confirmed next Sunday in his ward’s sacrament meeting. I am happy that he made such a cool decision on his own and that we were able to help him come closer to Christ.

I love you all more than you’ll ever know and hope you’re all doing well. Thanks for staying strong and supporting me. You all are an inspiration.

Yours forever,
Jesse

P.S. I guess I should explain the pictures I sent, huh? We had dinner with a member of one of our wards this past week who is a VERY avid hunter. He used to manage a large construction company which apparently gave him the money needed to travel to places as exotic as Africa, India, and Alaska just to hunt. He’s got a venerable museum in his house which he willingly let us explore. Interesting, eh?

Museum Goers

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:07:29 -0500

Museum Goers

April 27, 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:21:00 -0500

Another week, another P-Day. Wow, the weeks are flying by! My ten-month-mark just came and went. I’m a bonafide elder who’s been out for double-digit months!

The most exciting news of this week is that President has authorized us to Skype our families on Mother’s Day. Yahoo! I’m stoked to see you guys again and talk to you face-to-face. Wow… This will be our second call of four. How is time moving so quickly? (Yet, why does it sometimes feel like it’s not moving at all?)

Last P-Day, we participated in a pretty cool activity. There’s a member in one of our wards who’s a pretty good golfer. He offered to take us to the park with some golf clubs and teach us how to hit and we took him up! I discovered two things during that adventure: 1) Golfing is actually rather fun. 2) I’m actually rather good at golfing! I guess I’ve got some of the Millar blood in me that seems to be so prevalent in BJ’s branch of the family tree. Neat! Too bad the sport’s so expensive. If it weren’t, I might consider going into it.

Monday evening, Elder Ashworth and Elder Lambson went to an appointment with our investigator, Dawn. At the end of that appointment, they both felt impressed to invite Dawn and her daughter to be baptized on May the 12th, and they said, “Yes.” Cool! Since setting their date, they’ve been progressing well and I think they will really make it!

I like using our sweet, donated weight set on the porch of our trailer. I have been working out before bed very diligently and I find that exhausting myself right before hitting my pillow helps me have a better attitude and I sleep better through the night. Who knew that scrawny Elder Millar would find such joy in working out and building muscle!

Elder Oakey and I have been on a couple of exchanges recently. He is such an awesome guy. I feel like we’re really good friends and that we have similar ideals and goals. We’re planning on rooming together and starting a business as partners upon our return to BYU. That definitely puts a spring in my step! It’s good to know that I’ll have a friend on campus. Since I was the first of my posse to leave on my mission, if not for Elder Oakey, all my friends from before my service would have been MIA for a semester or two after my return.

Rest assured that I’m still kicking and doing my best to stay positive and happy. Please keep me in your prayers and don’t hesitate to offer any advice or counsel that you feel will help me in my missionary endeavors. I love you all and can’t wait to talk to you on Mother’s Day!

Love, Jesse

Work-out Porch

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:15:36 -0500

Work-out Porch

Petroglyphs ROCK!

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:29:42 -0500

Petroglyphs ROCK!

High on the Mountain Top?

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:09:28 -0500

High on the Mountain Top?

April 22, 2012

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:00:37 -0500

We spend last P-Day in the dusty wilderness with Brother Griffiths (one of our ward mission leaders). He bought a sweet Jeep about a year ago and loves going off-roading whenever he can. He invited us to come out with him, we accepted, and man, was it fun! I sent home a couple pictures of the sites. Those drawings carved into the rock are called “petroglyphs” and were made by Native Americans a good while ago. Their purpose is to document the animals that were in the area when the Indians passed through. Cool! Brother Griffiths is a really good driver as well. We were perfectly safe the entire time. What a ride! Some of those sand dunes felt like a roller coaster!

Monday nights are usually pretty dead for us. Since practically the entire town of Overton is LDS, Monday night (FHE) doesn’t leave us much to do besides service. So we spent Monday night packing up and moving a recent convert who lives in the apartments down the road. She was moving to a new apartment across the way and needed to have all her stuff packed up and moved out by Tuesday or she wasn’t getting her housing deposit back. We weren’t really planning on helping her pack (we usually just move already-packed boxes), but that’s alright. It was service!

Elder Lambson had doctor’s appointments in Vegas on Tuesday. We borrowed the Spanish elders’ car and drove down there at 11am. We arrived and I spent the day pondering the meaning of life in waiting rooms. While in those rooms, I really came to appreciate the wonderful gift of pondering. How cool is it that we can get lost in our own thoughts? It’s even more cool that ideas we come up with while pondering could actually change our lives. The human mind is awesome.

While in Vegas, we swung by the Deseret Industries that’s down there. It’s one of the largest in the world. During my pondering at the doctor’s offices, I came up with a couple ideas for English-style papers that I want to write to myself called “The Self Papers,” and I decided that a typewriter would be an invaluable asset in my pursuit. I picked up an old Sears typewriter for $8 that still worked perfectly and I gleefully took it home. Life is good!

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, family. Hopefully you have a great week and continue to learn and grow closer to the Lord each day. You guys are awesome and I love you all!

Yours forever,
Jesse

April 12, 2012

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:16:00 -0500

Family!

First up is a bit of news that happened last Monday. While emailing you all a week ago, I received an email from one Quinton Wong. Do you remember him? He was my home teaching companion back at BYU. What a cool guy. He was called to the Nevada Las Vegas West mission shortly after we all left school. In July, when the Nevada mission boundaries officially change, it would be sweet if I got swapped to the West mission and then he and I became companions. Woo!

Unfortunately, our two best investigators both cancelled with us this past week. Hopefully we’ll be able to see them in the coming days. Keep your fingers crossed!

On a brighter note, I’ve been doing a good job of exercising on a very regular basis. For the most part, I get a half hour to forty-five minutes of serious workout in each night before hitting my pillow. My body is sore, but that’s a good thing! It means I’m growing muscles! Huzzah! I’ll have to send some pictures of the exercise equipment.

We’ve been doing a lot of service lately. Three or four people have accepted our offers of yard work which means we get to spend time in our P-Day grubs digging in the dirt. Exciting! It’s a nice swap from the usual grind of missionary work. And, hey, it’s what the Savior would do which means it’s still missionary work!

Next up is my report on my piano practice! I actually did some this week! We had a baptism in our ward last Saturday and apparently I’m the only one in the ward that was willing and able to play piano that day. I learned a couple of songs from the Children’s Songbook and played a tiny bit of prelude and the closing hymn for the baptism. Coolio!

In other news, our A/C broke (again) this last week. We were without man-made cooling for about two days. Thankfully we haven’t hit the 120’s yet, but those two days were still pretty miserable. Our host family got the A/C fixed as quickly as they could and the mechanic who did the work seemed to know what he was doing. Here’s hoping we stay cool as summer approaches!

While on a recent exchange, Elder Ashworth and I visited with a thirty-something-year-old man who had been in a terrible car accident three or four years ago. The accident severely damaged his back which left him a quadraplegic. Elder Ashworth and I spent a bit of time with him reading the scriptures and having a bit of a one-sided conversation. I think that’s the experience that I learned the most from this week. It really made me appreciate what I have in life. Things may not always be easy, but at least I have a body that can be exercised instead of laying in bed for the rest of my life… Count your many blessings, my friends!

The last bit of news I have is about the baptism on Saturday. I don’t know if I’d count it as my baptism because previous elders did all the teaching, but it was still neat to participate in helping a nine-year-old girl draw nearer to her Heavenly Father. She was pretty much ready for baptism when we found her in the area book. She’d been waiting for quite a while apparently! Her baptism was part of a stake baptism which made things easy on us and her family. Most of the songs and talks and scheduling were already taken care of. We didn’t have to fill the font or make programs or anything! If only every baptism could be that way! Even though she played the event off like it was no big deal, I saw a glimmer of the Spirit in her eyes that witnessed to me how much she appreciated it. Neat!

That’s about all I’ve got for this week. Hopefully there’ll be more to talk about come next Monday. Keep the faith and stay strong, family! I love you all and pray for your daily. Fight the good fight and stay close to the Spirit!

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

April 6, 2012

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:29:00 -0500

Family! Oh, how I love and miss you all!

Since coming to Overton, days have been flying by, especially since my birthday. It’s a very surreal feeling. The first half of last week flew by on wings of lightning which means that all of my report will focus on recent days.

We had a lesson Thursday night with a cool lady named Dawn. She’s a nonmember with a recent convert husband and daughter. Dawn found out recently that if she’s not a baptized member in good standing with the Church, she will be unable to attend her sixteen-year-old daughter’s now-unplanned, but future temple wedding. I haven’t heard that as a motivation for investigating the church before, but whatever works! We taught her the first lesson which she took very well. She said she enjoyed the lesson and felt enlightened and educated. Cool. We’ll have another lesson with her soon. Gotta love member referrals!

We also had a lesson with Jason. He’s struggling. That awesome change we saw come over him because of reading the Book of Mormon has waned a good deal. He’s dealing with a lot of things right now, but he still sat down with us for about forty minutes and listened to what we had to say. We didn’t seem to make much of an impact on him that night. The cool part came when we called him Saturday morning. He watched a part of Conference and the movie about Joseph Smith that was shown before one of the sessions! Awesome! Hopefully that results in something!

Speaking of Conference, how awesome was this past weekend? On the whole, Conference was wonderful and I enjoyed it thoroughly. What a blessing it is to hear from the General Authorities on such a frequent basis. I downloaded MP3 versions of all the talks today onto my dictaphone, and I will be listening to them again soon. Hopefully the Spirit will continue to enlighten me as I hear them all for a second time!

My favorite talk came from President Eyring. The reason it was my favorite was because I felt it spoke directly to me about my own beloved mother. Heavenly Father is definitely polishing and blessing my mother because of her service to my ailing Grandmother. I felt very close to my mom as President Eyring spoke. The Spirit was strong.

I also enjoyed the address that discussed how we should look at ourselves. I was struck by the direct message that I don’t need to worry about what others think of me because Christ’s opinion is the only one that matters. I will definitely strive harder to align myself with Christ’s view of who I should be.

I also enjoyed the simple statement that “the Gospel is DESIGNED to bring about mighty changes of heart”. Neat! I really latched onto that word “design”. I’ve never really thought of the Gospel and the Atonement as being designed.

After we arrived home from Conference on Saturday evening, we set out to visit some members and knock some doors. Shortly after departing our home, a member pulled up in a nice car and asked us if we’d eaten dinner. We replied that we hadn’t because our dinner appointment had cancelled. He told us to hop in. That began the most hilarious night of my life. This brother is eighty-four years old and has the most active sense of humor that I have ever encountered. Sadly, I was laughing too hard throughout the whole night to recall any of the jokes he told, but let it be known that he is one of my favorite members. He’s a hoot!

That’s about it for this week! I love you all and will be praying mightily for your continued success! You’re wonderful and strong and inspiring. Thank you for all your support and encouragement. I couldn’t do this without your backing. Stay strong and carry on!

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

March 30, 2012

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:23:27 -0500

With the arrival of my twentieth birthday came a lot of reflection on how I’ve spent my life and where I want to go in life. I’m really struggling to wrap my mind around how much I want to be involved with technology when I return home. I’m really leaning toward simply cutting single-player video games, geeky blogs, and Twitter out of my life so I can focus on things that really matter. I found a quote in this month’s Ensign which influenced my thoughts: “The adversary would love to bind our tongues—anything to prevent us from expressing verbally the feelings of our hearts face to face. He delights in distance and distraction; he delights in noise; he delights in impersonal communication—anything that would prevent us from the warmth of a voice and the personal feelings that come from conversing eye to eye.” Wow. If that’s not a “dis” on social networking, nothing is!

Elder Oakey and I went on exchanges this past week and had an awesomely spiritual day. We didn’t have any appointments or solid plans so we opted to be attentive to the Spirit and follow its guidance. It worked! We were able to do some awesome service, visit a couple people that really needed visits, and bolster up those whom we love. There was one family in particular that stuck out to me. We visited this family, an elderly couple, around lunch time with the intent of giving them a spiritual message and seeing if there was anything we could do for them. The husband has Alzheimer’s which is an obvious struggle for the wife. They fed us an impromptu (and delicious) lunch. I left feeling happy and fulfilled. Apparently we had a huge impact because the sister bore testimony about US! She said that we really touched them and arrived at a very needed time. I’m so glad that we followed the Spirit!

We’ve spent some time recently doing service for a member in Logandale. He’s a butcher. We’ve been butchering. Very interesting! Not something I really want to repeat. I’ve got a couple pictures of the process that I’ll send home soon.

A last item of interest revolves, again, around our butcher friend. Elder Oakey mentioned something to him about how we’re all feeling weak and unable to exercise properly. He apparently had a bunch of weight lifting equipment sitting behind his house that he was willing to give away. He brought it to our house and we now have an epic gym on our porch. Sweet! I’m gonna get buff!

I’ll leave you with a quote from Elder Oakey. When he and I were pulling weeds for a sister in our ward, he made this comment: “When pulling weeds is a break, you know something weird is going on.” I guess we’re working hard as missionaries!

I love you all and hope that you’re doing well. I pray for your strength every day and know that you can prevail.

Yours forever,
Elder Jesse Millar

Your Birthday Cowboy!

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:40:23 -0500

Your Birthday Cowboy!

March 24, 2012

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:39:21 -0500

Whew! What a week it’s been! I hope my report can do justice to the work we’ve done!

First up is the news about Elder Stone. The news is that Elder Stone is no longer my companion. We were told that we were both staying, but that was misinformation. Elder Stone was actually being shipped to the north part of Las Vegas and I was getting a new companion. My new companion, Elder Lambson, showed up at 7am on Wednesday morning. He’s a twenty-two-year-old elder from Houston, TX. That’s not too far from San Antonio (at least not when you look at how big the state of Texas is). He’s a very grounded guy who knows how to do missionary work while still having fun. He’s a nerd like me which has really helped us click and become fast friends. I’m doing my best to employ the lessons regarding patience and understanding that I learned with Elder Stone. Being positive and spiritual has definitely helped me with my companion relations.

Next up is journals. I’m still writing in my journal every day and I’ve been rather struck by the number of scriptures that have to do with journal writing. Check out 1 Nephi 6:3 and the chapters around there. The scriptures are totally just a journal kept my prophets! I knew that before, of course, but it never really hit me until recently.

One of the most exciting events of the week happened on Friday. Friday, after “Get To Know You’s”, Elder Oakey and I managed to lock ourselves out of the car we were driving. That was a big problem because we were in Mesquite which is forty-five minutes away from Overton. We spent an hour breaking in to our own car using a coat hanger and a screw driver before a member cop showed up and used his official kit to break in in a matter of five minutes. Cool experience for my journal!

We worked the rodeo again on Saturday. No major happenings in terms of horses or riders (thankfully, nobody fell off), but the wind was absolutely crazy the whole time we were there. Sand blowing in your face at fifty miles-per-hour isn’t fun for six hours straight. We persevered and enjoyed ourselves though. Everything is an exercise of patience when you step back and look at it!

Last up is a lesson we had with a fifteen-year-old kid named “Tony”. He was totally cool and open minded, but the problem was his mom. We talked to them for about an hour and the whole time the mom basically rehearsed the “A bible, a bible” scripture. It was a bummer of a lesson, but it was cool to see a Book of Mormon prophecy being fulfilled.

I’ve gotta get running to do stuff with the day, but know that I love you all and will be thinking about you much more than usual today and tomorrow as I celebrate my twentieth birthday. Woo! I’m not a teenager anymore!

Much love and smiles,
Elder Jesse Millar

Reflections from a birthday-boy to his mother:

Good morning, Mommy!

Your email DOES find me well, happy, and excited for my birthday (although there’s a bit of apprehension revolving around the idea of leaving teenager-dom forever)! I’m definitely feeling all your birthday wishes and love as I approach the 20th. Thank you very much for the care and concern you’ve shown me over the years. You’re my angel mother.

I couldn’t contain myself and opened my birthday box almost the moment I got it. What a wonderful gift that was! I definitely felt all your love and kindness in the letters and gifts. I spent a good while gnawing on candy and putting together the toys you all sent. I love everything that was in that box!

Twenty… That’s quite the mile marker… I’m actually kind of nervous about this page I’m about to turn in my life. I’m super glad that I’m on a mission during this critical time. I’m so blessed to also have the backing of a loving, gospel-centered family. The Lord has blessed me MUCH more than I deserve for which I’m eternally grateful. Life is good! The Lord is good! My mission is good!

Mentally, I’m doing wonderfully. The Lord is definitely supporting me in that area by freeing up my mind and directing my thoughts to those things that are worthwhile. Physically, I’m still a bit drained. It’ll take me a while longer to adjust back to doing missionary work on bike and on foot. I got really used to that truck we had in Wells. More exercise should do the trick. Spiritually, I’m doing better than I have in months. I feel good and happy. I’m glad that I have Elder Lambson as a companion. Woo! I’ve never seen someone work so hard! Diligent, morning studies are definitely helping me in my teaching abilities, personal growth, and attitude toward each day.

Thank you for your poetic birthday wish. You’re wonderful and I love you with all my heart and soul in every way I possibly can. I love you, I love you, I love you! Thank you for bringing me into this world twenty years ago. I owe everything to you.

Your forever-young son,
Elder Jesse Dean Millar

Two TEXANS Together

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:37:08 -0500

Two TEXANS Together