We are soldiers of war!

First I would like to thank you for the package that you gave me. Last week I had not opened the package yet so I didn’t know how I could thank you if I had not opened it yet. So I would like to thank you for the cds and for the book I received from Lexi. Just for your information you can send me a pen drive that has music on it and send me that... because we have a DVD player that plays USB cards. So if you want to send me more music you can put it on the pen drive and then I can use the music on the DVD player.

As for tomorrow I will go to an American’s house for dinner to have a wonderful American/Italian Thanksgiving....

Ashley is getting baptized this week! She asked me to baptize her but I am not really allowed to leave my zone. So unfortunately I won’t get to go or perform the baptism. But the good news is she is getting baptized. I am really happy for her.

Gianluca is amazing as well I have been teaching him the lessons and we are excited because he will probably be baptized as well.... Hopefully we will see a baptism here in Lecce in the next couple of weeks (about a month).

We also have Francesco, who is doing really well. He is just starting the lessons and is trying to do what is right... he has a hard time with the law of chastity but I think we can help him with that.

As for some of the things I would like to tell you about Napoli... first of all it is crazy there.=) There was a family that was in a place called Scampia that is very dangerous. Hahahah, it was very interesting as we went there every week. We went and saw the Demartino family and the Ferrarro family, they are both less active, but their apartment building was the place where the Mickey Mouse club sold their drugs. So every week we would have to go to that house and ask for permission to enter into the apartment building. It was kinda scary but I was not too afraid to go up there and talk to the guy guarding the door. They always had more than one person that you couldn’t see. For example you had someone who was in a different apartment building watching everything from above another that was around the corner and another in the bushes. Anyways as we would walk up to the door I would have a whole bunch of emotions such as fear, sadness, a bit of excitement and of course a bit of laughter. I would be sad because you would literally see a line that was on the side of this apartment complex with fathers and their kids buying these drugs or you would find mothers and old men. It’s not the most beautiful thing you have seen in your life. I would get excitement just because I have always loved going there. I had never had problems in the past, and because I love these families. We would walk up to the door and immediately start talking with our big man Enzo who was the door guard and three other men would always come from somewhere else surrounding us asking us all sorts of questions. A lot of the times they would tell us that we could not enter, but many times we would say something like we have a message of Christ and there is a family who needs us in this building, please let us enter. They would then scream at the man behind the door who was dealing the drugs; OPEN THE DOOR!!!! Then the man would unlock three dead bolt locks we then would enter and wait next to the door and pretend we had saw nothing before moving through. =) We became friends with Enzo and many times I would kinda joke and sincerely ask how his work was going. He would normally respond with "it could be better” with a bit of a smirk. Scampia is crazy, but I feel safe there as a missionary.

I also have a bunch of other stories from Napoli such as crazy people on trains who start yelling at us because we are Americans or something like that. I met many people that wanted to take upon them Christ’s name, and be baptized but had many problems that would hold them back from being baptized such as court trails or divorce papers from the catholic church, anyways….

I don’t know what it is but I have been having such a hard time, not looking in the past at Napoli. It’s been really hard; things are really different in the Puglia Zona. People don’t know who I am. People just think I’m a stickler when it comes to the rules and when it comes down to working hard? (Which is weird because I wish I was like that) but anyways the missionaries are pretty different here as well. They think they can watch movies and go into the house of the sisters and have a big breakfast together. People don’t understand obedience; I am not that big of a stickler. I firmly believe that the guidelines in the white hand book are great goals...fantastic goals. Every missionary can do it and can work towards those goals. I also believe obedience is a very personal thing. But when it comes down to going into houses of sister missionaries (especially when you’re a flippin’ zone leader); watching inappriopraite movies, I mean come on!!!!!! How stupid do you have to be to know that you can’t do that kind of thing? It is too important to have the spirit with you in the mission. It’s more important in a place like Italy, your not going to find the elect nor is God going to lead the elect to you if he can’t trust you with a precious soul, one of the noble ones that were chosen in the pre-mortal existence. In NAPOLI we had to be obedient; we depended on it. Here...... I don’t even know....... I miss my Napoli. I don’t even want to comment on it anymore. I'll get over it one day.

The thing that I wanted to express to you this week was something that will probably sound a bit strange for you all... it makes sense to me so I hope that I can portray it in a manner that you can understand. I have also spoke about this subject before today so I am sorry if I have repeat something that I have said in the past in this letter.

I do not know how I could tie this in with anything else so I will just get straight to the point....

I also ask the youth who are reading this letter to pay close attention

Ok so I don’t know why but I miss not being a missionary (being a civilian) sometimes. Not for the fact that I miss home, or for the fact that I miss driving or dirt biking snowboarding or anything of the sort. SOMETIMES I miss home because I miss the being on the front lines of this war that we are fighting. Being a missionary, I have come to realize the things I could have done before the mission. The influence I could have had on other people.

The difference I could have made in the ward, in the world or in my school. I realize that I had many positions in my life where I could have done a lot, more then I did..... I do regret it a bit, but I am glad I had at least learned my lesson. I want to tell everyone who is reading this letter that they have the possibility to do something great everyday.

As a missionary, I feel like in the recruiting office finding recruits to join the fight. I am in a safe place with specific rules to set me apart from the world.

I want to tell you that you all are some of the best soldiers God has and that He is expecting a lot from you. He loves you! You have been chosen specifically to come here on the earth and fight this battle. Do not think you are not strong enough, that’s an instinct of the natural man. One thing that I like about the the Army’s oath is that it says:

”I WILL NOT LEAVE ANY WOUNDED SOILDIER BEHIND"

I think we could relate this to us as well, that we can not leave our fellow soldiers behind we need to help them, guard and protect them.

I have spoken a couple of times about the scripture in (1Timothy 4:12- the end of the chapter) that we are the examples to everyone. I ask you again to be the examples to the believers. There is a quote that is really funny that has always been in the mission field which is “be the missionary your mother thinks you are" =) If you ask me I really have some big expectations from my mother! Don’t forget we are soldiers and we will win this war!

Well I gotta go but I will talk with you in a week love you so much

Anziano Miller