I am off to Palermo!

Palermo one means, that I will be in the Centro Storico which is the old part of the city. I will leave tomorrow morning at 8 and I will arrive in Palermo at 8 at night.... on a bus.... I don’t even want to think about what I am going to do. As for Anziano Weeks I am more then excited to be with him=) he is an incredible missionary he is Dying this transfer and I will be staying in Palermo to take his position. I am more then excited, mostly because this will be my first transfer where I will be with a companion older then me since my 4th transfer. Which is something I have wanted since my 5th transfer=) It is really hard being with someone younger then you.

It’s kind of a shame I am leaving because Bitonto is just about to have there final elections for mayor. People are going nuts over these elections, for example: the other day, we were in a meeting in the old folks home to see how we (as a group were going to improve our service) The meeting started out nice but, it only took a few moments before everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs about there personal opinions of who should be mayor. Many were expressing their opinions that they shouldn’t vote... in fact one young girls started to yelling at this old lady telling her "There are many people who are not going to vote, everyone is corrupt so we should not vote" !!!!!!

I enjoy the elections here more then I do in America because everyone likes to yell at each other=) Politics is something that brings the best out of us, doesn’t it?

This week has gone alright Anziano Stewart have kind of slowed down, but it's has been a bit harder for us to continue talking to everyone like we were doing. I feel good about leaving Bitonto. Not because I want to leave or because I don’t like it.  I feel like I have done all I can do to help these people in this Branch, there was a nice man who is part of our branch told us that we have done good work here. His words were “it doesn’t happen often but you two have truly left your mark here in Bitonto". I felt really good when he said that I hope he really meant it.

I said goodbye to all the people in Bitonto, it was kind of sad but they were much different from the other members that are part of this mission. They just kind of looked at me and said alright Anziano, well we will see each at God... which kind of makes me wonder if they didn’t like me or if they are so used to Anziani coming and going it doesn’t even phase them, that I am leaving. In the end, I hope they remember me.

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We went bowling last P*day and that was interesting... Grandpa would not be happy with me if I told him my final score... so I won’t say anything. I had a lot of fun when I went, it was really interesting. They have all there bowling balls that are weighed in pounds and all the lanes are dented and warped, but I had a lot of fun.

I am actually kind of grateful that Anziano weeks doesn’t have a blog=) haha but his parents live right next to Alta if you would ever like to meet up them sometime you could or even go to his homecoming if you would like... but I will have to talk to him before we exaggerate.
 I sent a flash drive home... but I also sent I gigantic package home! I hope it gets there. If it doesn’t I will cry, but we will see. It should be there in three weeks. So keep your eyes open. The box is as yellow as it gets.

The picture of the boats comes from Trani and yes it is beautiful, I am not sending anymore pictures until I receive those thumb drives back.

P.S. I am not Zone leader but that is ok I am sure I will only have a sort break until they ask me to be a zone leader again.

Well family sorry I have made this short but I wanted to leave you a little Quote that I really like, my goal is to become like this man and one day I am sure I will achieve that goal.

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

 

I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present
makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by
presence, lean by faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace
is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my
road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,
compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear.
I am not ashamed of the gospel . . . Romans 1:16
The Author of this work is in dispute.

Some say Anonymous, others claim it is by Dr. Bob Moorehead

Love you so much family, I will be fine there in Palermo. I was in Napoli for more then 8 months!!! I will be fine in Palermo.


Anziano Miller OUT.....

Happy Easter

Trani

It was a great week because the day after Easter we had the opportunity to clean our house really well. In Italy we have a holiday that they is called Pasquetta, which is little Easter in English. It is a day where no one wants to talk to you =( They all want to go out and have fun.

We were in our house from 10 till' 10 cleaning our house, it took so much time because our house here in Bitonto is ridiculously big. We had a lot of dismantled furniture and many things we had to fix in our house that had been broken before I had ever arrived.

NOW, we have the most beautiful house in the entire mission. You can feel the different spirit that is there just by walking around.

I don't know why, but there have been a lot of people dying around me... one of our investigators moms died on Thursday, we had a six month old child die this week his mother and father are part of our ward.

I went to the doctors this week to get an ultra sound... that was interesting, They said that I am looking really healthy so that made me happy.

Lexi's funeral makes me laugh, it is hilarious the things that she thinks of, not only that but she made a pulling card chart...... I am sure dad pulls five cards everyday, after seeing all the rules I feel grateful that I am in the mission.=)

Just a little thought talk a little about death since we have seen so much of it in the last couple of months.

One thing that we need to remember is that there IS a life after this, there is a whole eternity in front of our eyes. And that THIS life is just a short 100 meter hurdle sprint till' we arrive at the finish line, we know that we will resurrect after this life, if you have a body, you will be resurrected and be judge before our almighty God we need to prepare our selves for the hurdles we have in front of us, and focus on our end goal.

I hope we can accomplish that that we were foreordained to do. I am so great for the knowledge that I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to serve him here in Italy...

Have a great week family

Be good and don't pull to many cards.... Anziano Miller 

"its getting late"

Ciao Family, and Kaitlyn (my amazing sister)

Today I would really like to touch on something that I have been thinking about lately. 

But first, I would like to thank Carol for her very nice and adorable Easter card, I received not just one but two from her. She is ridiculously nice and I do thank her for her thought fullness. 

I would also like to thank Nanny and Grandpa Miller for there card and letter, it was really nice to hear about what's going on in Arizona. Believe it or not there are a lot of people here in the mission that are from Arizona, and I always ask if they know my family. Unfortunately I have not found any that knows my family from Arizona... but I have a feeling there will be a day. 

Ok well this week I have been thinking a lot about this life and the purpose of it, not only the purpose but how we start this life and end this life. And of course what we do during this life. 

We start this life knowing nothing, and starting out being an innocent and fragile being. 

There is a scripture that is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon that states....

but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves
and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and
through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. 

The bible quickly reinforces this statement with

Jesus saying, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

To me it is interesting that we need to become as little children and it is even more interesting how we end our lives... I believe there is a reason we are we become old and fragile. Many people become very humble when they are older, because they have realized they can no longer do things on their own. While I have been here in Bitonto I have been doing service for and old folk’s home. I help out by spoon feeding the old people that are not able to feed themselves. EVERYTIME I go there I see they are submissive, meek, and humble. They know that they are unable to do daily tasks because of there age.

In the end I know that God's plan is perfect, and that this life is to prepare to return and meet him again someday. There will be that day were we will be separated from our body and our spirit will return again to our heavenly father, In that moment I hope that we can all be ready to return home. 

I would like to echo the words of Jeffery R. Holland when he was speaking about the parable of house keeper and the laborers. 

In this parable the house keeper goes to the village 3 times to hire laborers to work in his vineyard... I don’t know if any of you know this parable, If you want you can go to Mathew 20. 1-16 

1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early
in the morning to hire laboruers into his vineyard. 

2. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into 
his vineyard.

3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,


4. And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way.


5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

7. They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into

the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 

8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call

the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 

9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a

penny. 

10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 

11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat to the day.

13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

14, Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

15, It it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

16. So the last shall be first, and the fist last for may be called, but few chosen.

I am going to go on with letter as if you already read it... 

There will be some of us that have joined the church sooner then others but the out come/ reward will be the same as the other workers. Some of us will have worked through some of the most scorching and brutal parts of the day and there will be others of us who will work only for an hour.

But those who have worked only for an hour saw all of the other workers who were asked to work at the beginning of the day.. I am sure that the worker of the 11th hour went through much more pain and sorrow then the man who was chosen at the beginning of the day.

I do not have much time to write why, but I invite you to think about it yourselves.

But I hope that you understand this is a parable of repentance as much as it is a parable of conversion we need to remember that we are in the last days... we don’t know when the end will come but, we need to be ready for when it does come. 

I Echo the voice of Jeffery R. Holland when he said "its getting late"

We need to remember that it is getting late in the day and we need to become unto Christ through repentance.

I say these things in saviors name Jesus Christ amen.

I hope you have a wonderful week make sure to tell me if this email made any sense or not. 

Love you so much!

Anziano Miller  

Spiritually Better

Matera

Well this week has been more then a productive week, not in the sense of missionary work, but in the sense of my self growth. Lately I have been having a hard time feeling the spirit. I don’t tell you these kinds of things because I don’t like you to worry. I did a split with Anziano Pedreria and it went very well, I am very opened with him and told him about my problem. He gave me a bunch of counsel.... in the end it helped me a lot, he has changed my whole mission. I have been spiritually better lately and I have been happier, and to tell you the honest truth I don’t know why, I had such a big problem in the first place. Anziano Pedreria is a great missionary and is an amazing teacher. I would really like to be able to teach like he does. I would really like to become an excellent teacher and be able to put my own personality into each lesson. But most of all I would really like to help people recognize the spirit through me more often. 

When I arrived here, I have been really focused on the rules and being exactly obedient. In the end, I was not paying enough time to my personal well being, and I have not been trying to be happy, because I have been to worried about being more then exactly obi dent. NOW, this does not mean I am going to fall into apostasy and not be obedient. It means I will just become more concentrated on my personal well being.

We have been slow this week, we have had many people cancel and tell us that we can meet until later this week we have a possibility of 3 new investigators and we are really excited about that.

Zone Conference was great I really felt the spirit; I was really touched by the words of the stake presidency. Everything is well in the Bari zone and we are looking to apply what we learned in zone conference in our everyday work.

Today we went to Matera again... and like I said it is ridiculously gorgeous... I can not tell you how cool that place is... a picture will never be able to describe it. 

We have been working hard and we will be working hard this next week..

Love you so much Anziano Miller 

 p.s.make sure you read isaiah 49  15-16 it makes me think of you mom=) 

Just Working Hard

All Directions

OK This week I guess I will focus on my strengths just because you told me to. 

This week has been great, I went to zone leader council which was great and fun filled. I also went to Lecce to go get my permesso, which was really nice. I got to see my favorite person, Anziano Teliroli, he has improved a lot in the sense of bettering the work.

We have had a great week, we have taught many people and we have been working hard. We have a new investigator he is pretty young, his name is Christmas. I know it’s a great name but he is an amazing investigator! He has obeyed the word of wisdom the moment he walked into the church. He said he had felt something a bit different, he has been reading the Book of Mormon and is making some big steps. 

Also we have been working with this another lady. She doesn’t understand me when I speak to her in the formal form so I have to speak to her in the unformal form so she can understand. She doesn’t know very much Italian and speaks a lot of dialect and has the thickest accent I have ever heard in my entire life.

We made a bunch of friends the other day, they saw us and that we were young and they wanted to play some soccer so we are going to play with them today. 

Dad I really do love your emails, they make me laugh every week. sono così contento mi hai mandato un email. sono sicuro tu sei occupato con tutta questa scuola che stai facendo. Sono grato che Peyton Manning giocherà per i Dever Broncos. a me piace i tuoi email. sono buffissimi quando li leggo. I can start writing a little bit in Italian it would be good practice for me.

Anziano Stewarts a good guy, I can’t wait til' you all meet, I am sure there will be a day in the future... he goes to BYU... so we will have a dinner some night, don t you worry. 

He thinks it’s funny that mom stalks me so much. Sometimes, I really worry about her I think she should really do something else other then look on the internet for things about me. I hope you tell her that she has better things to do with her time. 

I hope you are going to give Taylor a call this week, I hope he is doing well. 

Have a good week  Anziano Miller 

P.S. mom you are totally a stalker...

Overcoming my many weaknesses

So I thank you for answering the question about Joseph Smith being a freemason. It's all very interesting to me how the Restoration of the gospel is tied in so simply and perfectly.

This week has been a little bit different, not like the week of Elder Carter or a week that has been out of the ordinary. This week has been a week of thinking. My companion and I are doing well we are doing our best and we are working hard. We are teaching new people and we still have the desire to become better missionaries. This week I have been thinking a lot about my weaknesses, I will admit spelling is one of my worst attributes but it’s not one of the weaknesses I have been thinking about. 

Being a missionary is hard, mostly because there is so much you can improve on. It’s the same thing in an everyday life but as a missionary many people expect a lot out of you. The thing that is really hard for me is that I do not meet many of these expectations. I am a person that does not like to let people down nor am I am a person that wants to give up and not try. I am a person that wants to improve and never stop improving. 

This week has been a bit difficult for me just because I have been noticing how many weaknesses I have, and how much I need to improve. We have been working hard, and I have come closer to my heavenly father because of it. Sometimes, I wonder if I have even changed. This week I have made many goals to become not only a better missionary but a better person. 

I am glad there is that famous verse in Ether that can give me a little bit of comfort  

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

It may be that I need to become more humble... I don’t know. In the end I look at my experience this last week as a good one. I have learned a lot. I learned many things from a missionary that is in Bari. His name is Anziano Pedriera and he has helped me know what I can do to become the missionary I want to be.

By the way.... when I get home I really want to live in South America for sometime... or in Europe... but I have been thinking about living in other places other then the USA.
Today I am in Lecce Finishing my permesso, I feel like I have been in the DMV all day. I but this time I am the guy that is the foreigner, Luckily I feel like I am a rather easy foreigner to deal with but that could also be my pride that is in my way.

I don’t know about you but after a day in the DMV you just feel shot, and you don’t want to do anything... but on the other side of things, when you get out of the DMV you feel like you have found the golden ticket and you want to take off to the the willy wonka chocolate factory. Anyhow, that’s how I feel right now I don't want to talk to anyone because I have just won a free trip to the chocolate factory.

For other and more important business, I need my FLASH DRIVE back. But when you send it back try to send it back with recordings of you all doing fun things. Pictures and music. It would be really cool if you sent me little clips from a digital camera of what you have been doing. Whether that would be of Kaitlyn cheering, or Grandpa bowling, heck even grandpa swearing would amuse me. I thought this could be something that you would like to do remember. I will try to do my best to do the same but for right now I will send only pictures until we have all the pictures on your computer.

This week has been absolutely horrible; the first two days have been filled with nothing.... All of our appointments have been cancelled and we had to come last night on the train to Lecce so I could be here early this morning. Then tomorrow I will go to Capi conference. WHICH IS NOT ZONE CONFERENCE every time I look on the blog you put zone conference.  It’s not a zone conference, it is were all the zone leaders from all over the mission go to Rome to meet with president to decide what we are going to do this next transfer, to make the mission better. I will do my best to get a picture with president.

Yesterday I had a pretty cool experience, We went to Lecce last night and when we got on the train there was someone (a man that is part of the military) said with a load voice directed at me saying I was a "Jehovah witness" (this is something that happens to us missionaries often) anyway, me being me turned around and said "no we are not them."  He asked me who I was and what I did, I told him everything about the Mormons and what we believe and what I was doing. I quickly asked if I could sit next to them and tell them some more about myself. (Remember that I was around a group of very scary military men) but anyways I did what I could and explained everything about the church. They were not interested in joining the church but they were interested about the church. Anyway they were really nice and I chatted with them for a whole hour and a half. It was a fun experience.

Well other then this I don’t have anything else to say... I hope you are still in contact with my men Jake and Taylor. Remember you have to keep an eye on those two while I am gone. They are two of my very bestest friends so I really hope you have not forgotten about them.

Anyway this has been a long enough email, I hope you are content. Keep me in your prayers and don’t forget to love one another.

Love so much Anziano Miller
Ps dont do anything Stupid!!!

Albero Bello & Poligniano with the whole District.

So this week was great!!! I did not get transferred which is a really good thing. A really good thing and I am really excited to be with Anziano Stewart again!!! We get along great and we work amazingly well together

Today I am emailing late because we went to albero bello and Poligniano... these are two places that are spectacular. We went with the whole district and it was just great... and also just beautiful!!! They have the Red Bull diving boards there and Anziano Curzola and I were talking about going there and jumping off the cliffs some time after the mission. We wanted to do some pretty crazy stuff; they also don’t even have the diving board out in the open.

This week we are working very hard we have been contacting people left and right and talking to almost every person we see.

This week we went to the apostate city of Brindisi to do a spilt and to see how things were going. It went really well, we spoke with many people. They are not watching anymore movies on their DVD player. (Mostly because they do not have one) but I am pretty sure they watch movies on the TV in the church. Anyways, when I was there things went really well and they are really good friends of mine. Anyways that went really well. I would like to go to Flaming Gorge after the mission with Anziano Cuellar and Anziano Zgjani, we have been planning on it for a while now. Anziano Stewart and I will have two field trips that are coming up soon. ONE to Lecce!!! yay!!! And the other one is a Trip to NAPOLI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Why Napoli, well back when I was back in Napoli, Anziano Stewart and I needed to go to the emigration point were you get your permission to stay in this country. We had missed our appointment by a day... To make a long story short, we couldn’t get his permission until January. He went back to Napoli to do his finger printing and now we need to go back to pick up his permission card and that will be this transfer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So I am excited to go back home to where I belong! =) but it will just be a short visit. Enough time to go and meet Ashley and eat a good pizza.

We have been teaching this way sweet Free Mason who has a lot of knowledge about God and the scriptures. He is progressing really well and I would not even be surprised if he did not get baptized... He is a thug!

Dad, was Joseph Smith a free mason?  A lot of people say that he was, and I just don’t even know. 

We have been teaching two other investigators and one has been coming to church. It’s been really good for us. Anziano Stewart had not seen one person come to church until two weeks ago!!!

I am working hard, I am doing well. I am still zone leader and I am trying to be the best example I can be. I am still human and I have more weaknesses then I can possibly count and it is not that fun to count how many I have.

OH!!! We have bought two cook books! There is one that has more then 600 recipes of pasta and there is another that has 800 of miscellaneous Italian dishes. I love it I am sure you will love it as well when I get back home. If I had to say so I am a pretty dang good cook and I can not wait to show you what I can make. But I must remind you I can really only make pasta. I have eaten pasta from day one in the mission and it never gets old. It’s insane!!! I never would have thought that I would eat that much pasta!!! 

This email is all over the place... I thought I was doing really well between asking you questions and writing this letter but I think I was mistaken. =)

NOW, I have to write president so I will talk to you next week. HOPEFULLY I will be able to write a better email.

LOVE YOU SO MUCH 

Tell Nick to drop the girl and go have some real fun, go to church and go on a mission=)

Love you so much Anziano Miller 

PS. MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have you not seen how many pictures I have been taking... not to mention stealing from people.... my hard drive has over six GB of memory.... and that is just pictures!!!! 

And no I am not sending you any pictures to you today... YOU HAVE TONS OF PICTURES.... you’re like a drug addict =)

I will send you another thumb drive but I need you to send me the thumb drives back, because I only have so many. I will send this one and then after that you need to send me them back so I can give you more pictures... OK!?