Merry Christmas

We have been pretty busy, these last couple of days... we had a sweet ward party, all the kids put on a sweet role play that was magnificent. It is so fun to hear all of the Christmas stories in Italian. Because here they do not have the Christmas traditions like we have or have the same Christmas stories we have.

Lecce is absolutely gorgeous during this time of year. I will have to show you all the pictures some day.

I hope that Jake is getting better and that he works things out and realizes that this is probably the best thing that he would ever do with his life at this time, and ... that money can not buy this experience!

We had the baptism Saturday when I spoke to you all, it was really uplifting, I gave a talk on baptism and it was a real touching experience. I was still in shell shock when I was talking to you on Saturday. I still couldn’t believe the baptism happened. It wasn’t until Christmas Day were I felt the spirit really strongly.... not only because it was Christmas but because that day I saw G******* receive the Holy Ghost and I had the opportunity to be in the circle when he was receiving the Holy Ghost. So far in my mission I have had one baptism and the cost of my mission so far might be a total of $4,500 but if I could I would spend another $20,000 to have that experience again. I have seen people come into the church when I was in Napoli I saw new members be ordained... but I had never had that close bond with them like I had with this baptism. That scripture that says “And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” I can’t express my joy that I have at this time.

I would like to talk a little bit about Christmas. We celebrate Christmas to remember the coming of Jesus Christ our savior and redeemer. It is the best news that man kind had ever received. A lot of times we remember Christ in the month of December and then we kind of dwindle off in the months of January, February etc... We see that the spirit of Christmas is so exciting to most people they are either really happy or really stressed this time of year. We need to remind ourselves that Christ came to save the world from mortal death, so that we could have the opportunity to live with our heavenly father forever. I challenge you to always look for the hand of god in your lives. He will never forget you, and is there to help you in every way. Just look for those blessings and you will see them in your lives.

There are many people on the street here that are very confused. I like to ask people some normal questions... such as

Do you love you heavenly father?

Do you feel his love?

Do you believe in his sacrifice and his atoning blood?

But then if you ask... do you obey the commandments, they tend to be a bit confused and tongue tied... or try to make up excuses.... etc.

We need to be honest with our selves and on a daily basis commit ourselves to being better. Remember what Christ has given to us and how precious and important that that is in our lives. I love this Christmas season, have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Love you so much

Anziano Miller