Buona sera tutti!
Italy is just going amazing still!!
I love it here so much. The people are great, and (even though the
drivers are NUTS-I could go on all day about that so I'll wait until I get home
haha-- and constantly I am breathing in smoke because EVERYONE here always has
a cigarette in their hand) it is just such a beautiful place to serve! I feel
so blessed. We are right next to the ocean, and can actually see the
ocean from our apartment balcony. At night I love to take a few minutes
to just ponder and look out at the ocean and the lighthouse. I have had a
lot of time to reflect about things...like why I am here, what the Lord expects
of me, and how blessed I truly have been in my life. Thank you so much all for
all you have done to help prepare me and raise me up until now. It is
such a blessing to be out doing the Lord's work and sharing it with these
wonderful people who truly ''are kept from the truth only because they know not
where to find it..''.
So! About a few of our investigators!!
1) Uche!! oh my goodness uche is just a champion! He is an african
ex-beggar, ex-drinker, who has just completely turned his life around since he
found the church. Some members helped him to find a part time home and a
job to get him by, but we are still looking for a full time job and apartment
for him. But wow. Talk about humble. To tell you a little about his
character, the other day we went over to his house to teach him a lesson...and
he had just gotten back from the grocery store where he works, where he had
bought two cantelopes. When we sat down, he cut up an enitre one of the
cantelopes, put it on a plate, and set in on a chair in front of us to give us
something to eat. I could hardly hold back the tears as I thought of this
wonderful man, and how even though he has almost nothing, he still wants to
give what little he had..to serve. What a great man! We have taught
him probably 4 or 5 times (in english luckily haha so i can actually teach)
since I have been here, and he has a baptismal date that we are working him
toward on the 28th of September! We are super excited for him! He already
knows sooo much about the bible, because he has studied it since he was little,
so most of the time I feel like he is teaching me, not the other way around! But
he has lots of questions that can be answered by the Book of Mormon, and so
that has really been a testimony to me of the real power of that Book, and the
countless truths it holds.
2) Manuel! Manuel is such a champion! He
is 27, totally ripped, and has his ears and tooth pierced, with arms full of
tattoos...but he is just such a tender, great guy! (reminds me of
myself!...welll minus the tattoos and piercings that is...haha) :) We
have been teaching him and his mom when she is home, because he is actually under
house arrest for a few weeks. But he is just so humble and great...and he
has a lot of time to read the scriptures and review our lessons! We have
been bringing one of his friends in the ward to teach him, he served his
mission in Rome and is just a great guy. There have been some really
powerful, wonderful lessons with him, including one where we talked about
President Monson and showed him a conference talk (like the only one we could
find in English without being able to go on youtube haha) about obedience...it
is the one where he talks about how as a little boy him and his friend
wanted to clear a circle in the grass, but instead of cutting it all down, they
decided that if they lit a fire, it would burn a perfect circle!...haha.
But yeah Manuel is so great, he also has a baptismal date for the 28th,
but he hasn't been able to come to church and an investigator has to come to
church at least 3 times before he can be baptized....so we are working though
that. But all is going well! :)
We have a lot of other investigators and
potentials, which my trainer said isn't really typical for Italy...but our
mission president told us all the other week that now is truly the time for the
gospel to ''flood Italy''. The number of missionaries has doubled in the
past year, with 25% of all the missionaries only having been here for 12 weeks
or less! so we are all super young and inexperienced, but also fresh and
energized, and just so excited to do the Lord's work! Times are changing
in Italy, and I have seen how the Lord has prepared souls to hear our message.
I am so honored to be a part of this final huge wave of missionaries,
whom the Lord trusts and expects to bring the gospel to all of Italy.
So I have started a section in my
journal called ''Miracles happen every day'' where I record the miracles that i
have seen every single day. It truly is amazing how many miracles I have
seen as I am out among these wonderful people, standing and speaking in behalf
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to share a miracle with you that I
experienced this past week: My companion and I were out doing strada,
and we came to this park bench with two old guys on it. One of them we
recognized from the day before, who seemed interested and to whom we had given
a restoration pamphlet and asked him to read it. so I asked him if he had
read the pamphlet, and he said yes and that he had enjoyed it very much.
so, in broken Italian i began to teach him about the plan of salvation
(lesson number 2) while my companion was speaking with the other man on the
bench. I talked about how he could be with his family not only in this
life, but for eternity. He seemed very interested, but was in a hurry to
get back to his grandchildren. As I was talking I thought to myself that
I should give him a plan of salvation pamphlet, but I knew that the only
pamphlet i had put in my bag was a law of chastity pamphlet (in english by the
way) for the lesson we were about to go to with Uche. But right as he was
walking a way I found myself saying ''oh, Aspeta un momento, Io ho qual cosa
per lei'' Wait one moment, I have something for you. As i dug
through my bag at the very bottom I found two pamphlets...the law of chastity,
and ''il Piano di Salvezza''. I pulled it out and gave it to him, and he
walked away. Truly a miracle in my eyes.
I love you all very much, and
thank you so much for the support and prayers in my behalf. I can truly
feel the Lord strengthening me as I give 100% to Him...no young man could do
these kind of hours without the strength of the Lord. I know that that is
true. For truly this is His time, and His work...and no unhallowed hand
can stop the progress of the Lord's true church here on the earth today.
How blessed I am to be a part of it.
Love you all,
Anziano Wilson
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